tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63992009855684816412019-01-21T01:41:12.842-08:00H.O.T. / D.O.K.A blog on developing learning environments and delivering educational experiences that foster and promote cognitive rigor - higher order thinking and depth of knowledge.Erik M. Francisnoreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-20682359131844447762016-07-30T08:47:00.002-07:002016-07-30T08:47:52.277-07:00Preparing K-12 Students to be Postsecondary Ready<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Back in 2014, I wrote a blog titled&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://maverikeducation.blogspot.com/2014/03/college-and-career-readiness-less.html" href="http://maverikeducation.blogspot.com/2014/03/college-and-career-readiness-less.html" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">"College and Career Readiness: Less Political Rhetoric, More Practical Strategies"</a>&nbsp;that discussed what exactly does it mean to be college and career ready and how there should be less politicizing and more focus on how we can truly prepare our students for the demands and responsibilities they will encounter in their personal and professional lives after high school.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Two years later, I'm pleased to see that the political rhetoric has died down. &nbsp;However, two years later, there is still a lack of clarity and understanding as to what exactly does it mean to be college and career ready and how we can prepare our students at the K-12 level.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAeUAAAAJDk0YjU2ODUwLTYwZWYtNGZjNS1iNTBhLWU2OWI4YTMyOGQzYw.png" height="473" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAeUAAAAJDk0YjU2ODUwLTYwZWYtNGZjNS1iNTBhLWU2OWI4YTMyOGQzYw.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="641" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">As I explained in my blog two years ago - and as I discuss in my presentations and seminars - college and career readiness is actually only half of what our students need to be prepared for according to&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://programs.ccsso.org/projects/Membership_Meetings/APF/documents/Defining_College_Career_Readiness.pdf" href="http://programs.ccsso.org/projects/Membership_Meetings/APF/documents/Defining_College_Career_Readiness.pdf" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Conley (2010)</a>, who identifies the qualities of&nbsp;<em>postsecondary readiness</em>&nbsp;as the following:</div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Work Ready:&nbsp;</b>Meets the basic expectations for workplace behavior and demeanor.</li></ul><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Job Ready:</b>&nbsp;Possess specific knowledge, skills, and behaviors necessary to begin an entry-level position.</li></ul><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Career Ready:</b>&nbsp;Possesses key content knowledge and&nbsp;key learning skills and techniques sufficient to begin&nbsp;studies in a career pathway.</li></ul><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>College Ready:</b>&nbsp;Prepared in the four keys to college&nbsp;and career readiness necessary to succeed in entry‐level general education courses.</li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">In essence, postsecondary readiness is similar to the Response to Intervention (RtI) in that it focuses on both the academic and behavioral aspects of education. &nbsp; In the graphic I provided, the academic component is on the left side of the circle while the behavioral is on the right. &nbsp;Each is split evenly into quarters to suggest that all components are important for a student to learn and develop in order to succeed in life professionally and personally.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">However, what does postsecondary readiness mean from a K-12 perspective, and how can we effectively prepare students as young as kindergarten to be postsecondary ready?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">I designed the following graphic for K-12 schools to understand what we need to address in order to prepare our students to be postsecondary ready. &nbsp;This redesign is based upon the research I have conducted on Conley's work, the general definitions of what college and career readiness means (and they are&nbsp;<em>very</em>&nbsp;general), and also my own observations and experiences in my personal and professional life as well as those of my friends, colleagues, or people who have endured great success or setbacks</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAi_AAAAJGQ0Yjk0YTQyLTBkOTUtNDAyMi1iOGNiLWEzYzRlZGJhZGUwMw.png" height="480" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAi_AAAAJGQ0Yjk0YTQyLTBkOTUtNDAyMi1iOGNiLWEzYzRlZGJhZGUwMw.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="641" />When we prepare students to be college ready, we are teaching them&nbsp;<strong>disciplinary literacy</strong>&nbsp;-&nbsp;the ability to demonstrate and communicate knowledge and thinking in an academic discipline&nbsp;accurately, acceptably, appropriately, and authentically. &nbsp;To prepare students to be college ready, we educators need to teach our students how to read and research to build background knowledge, examine and explain how and why concepts and procedures can be used, and investigate and inquire to extend learning. &nbsp;These are the key academic skills students will need to develop and demonstrate in order to succeed in their postsecondary academic and vocational endeavors. &nbsp;We can prepare our students to be college ready by continuously challenging them to&nbsp;demonstrate and communicate - or show and tell - &nbsp;<em>how and why can the knowledge be used&nbsp;to attain and explain answers, conclusions, decisions, outcomes, results, and solutions. &nbsp;</em>For example, instead of simply solving math problems, we should be challenging them to explain how and why they can use the math they are learning to defend or refute their solutions, developing and demonstrating deeper conceptual and procedural knowledge.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">When we are preparing them to be job&nbsp;ready, we are guiding them to&nbsp;develop and demonstrate<strong>&nbsp;basic comprehension and communication skills</strong>. &nbsp;Today's high school, college, or even graduate&nbsp;student must possess&nbsp;the foundational or rudimentary literacy and numeracy skills to perform and complete the tasks they would be assigned in an entry level position. &nbsp;In essence, they must be able&nbsp;read, write,&nbsp;and do math competently&nbsp;to do their job. &nbsp;The depth and extent of their literacy and numeracy knowledge and skills as well as how effectively and efficiently they can do their jobs will determine their prosperity and success within a particular company or their chosen field. &nbsp;However, to get to those next steps, entry-level employees must demonstrate&nbsp;the ability to read critically, write clearly, and do math correctly. &nbsp;To teach this, we need to foster and promote literacy across the curriculum. &nbsp;Teaching and learning reading and writing should not be regulated to the English language arts block or classroom. &nbsp;All teachers are reading and writing teachers, and all students should be expected to demonstrate and discuss what they learning through reading and writing. &nbsp;All teachers are also teaching mathematics in that we teach students how to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them, reason abstractly and quantitatively, construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others appropriately, use appropriate&nbsp;tools strategically, attend to precision, and look for and make use of structure. &nbsp;These are not only the standards for mathematical practice. &nbsp;They are the essential life skills students will need in order to succeed in their post-K-12 academic and vocational endeavors.&nbsp;</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">When we are preparing&nbsp;students to be work&nbsp;ready, we are helping them develop&nbsp;<strong>independence and self-direction</strong>. &nbsp; &nbsp;This is the behavioral component of postsecondary readiness. &nbsp;Today's graduate and employee must be responsible, reliable, resourceful, and respectful. &nbsp;They need to fulfill their job duties and responsibilities. &nbsp;They need to be counted on and gain their supervisor or organization's confidence that the job, project, or task assigned to them will be completed as expected (if not beyond or before). &nbsp;They need to be able to seek out the information they need - either from credible sources or from within themselves. &nbsp;Most importantly, they must show courtesy and consideration to their supervisor, their colleagues, and even their community or&nbsp;customers&nbsp;even if they do not agree or "like" them. &nbsp; &nbsp;Of all the components of postsecondary readiness, this may be the most difficult and tricky for schools and educators&nbsp;to address. &nbsp;Our local education agencies, our schools, and our classrooms do not mirror postsecondary academic and vocational&nbsp;environments or organizations. &nbsp;The consequences for not being responsible, reliable, resourceful, nor&nbsp;respectful are not as impactful&nbsp;or&nbsp;even damaging&nbsp;as if they displayed these behaviors in college or the workforce. &nbsp;Students will not be expelled or kicked out of school for poor grades like they would in college. &nbsp;We also cannot "fire" our students for behaving improperly or inappropriately. &nbsp;However, we can prepare our students to be work ready by fostering a learning environment that teaches students how to develop a&nbsp;solid&nbsp;work&nbsp;ethic and also work productively and politely with others - even if the student doesn't like the person. &nbsp;Consequences should be real and impactful but not based on punishment and reward. &nbsp;We should also try to make the classroom as similar as possible to a postsecondary&nbsp;academic or vocational environment. &nbsp; Talk to college professors or supervisors in the workforce. &nbsp;Ask them what are the behaviors they expect from their students and employees, and seek their recommendations as to how these expectations can be addressed and instilled in your classroom.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">This leads into the fourth component of postsecondary readiness - career ready. &nbsp;We can help students become career ready by having them develop deeper understanding and awareness of&nbsp;<strong>21st Century Skills</strong>. &nbsp;The term 21st Century skills has unfortunately become&nbsp;a catchphrase like college ready and career ready. &nbsp;It sounds great and spectacular as a campaign promise or a mission statement. &nbsp;However, it lacks true,&nbsp;substantial definition of what exactly that means. &nbsp;Also, like college and career readiness, it is also misinterpreted and misleading. &nbsp;Many people believe the 21st century skills are defined and dictated by digital media and informational literacy and people's ability to use technology. &nbsp;However, digital literacy is only one small&nbsp;fraction&nbsp;of what encompasses the 21st Century skills our students must develop.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAehAAAAJGMwOTM0YjhmLTUyMWItNGViMC05OTE4LTU1NjllYzlkYzFjYg.png" height="604" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAehAAAAJGMwOTM0YjhmLTUyMWItNGViMC05OTE4LTU1NjllYzlkYzFjYg.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="641" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">The&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.p21.org/index.php" href="http://www.p21.org/index.php" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Partnership for 21st Century Learning - or P21 Council</a>&nbsp;- has identified what are these 21st Century skills and themes our students should be examining and exploring along with learning the concepts and procedures correlated to the core subject areas. &nbsp;We should&nbsp;teach them how and why the academic concepts and content they are learning are relevant and beneficial. &nbsp;We&nbsp;should encourage them to investigate and inquire how these academic concepts and procedures can be used not only within a specific subject area but also across the curriculum and beyond the classroom. &nbsp;We should also guide&nbsp;them to recognize and realize what is their place and responsibility in the community locally, nationally, and globally and how they could use both their innate skills and talents as well as their education to contribute&nbsp;to the world. &nbsp;By having students address these themes and develop these skills, we will be teaching them not only how to be positive and productive members of society but also develop the critical and creative thinking skills that will help them establish, succeed, and thrive in a career in whatever field they choose - or even develop a career path of their own.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">When we are preparing our students for life after their K-12 education, we should not only be focused on guiding them to become college and career ready. &nbsp;College and career ready sounds great as a slogan. &nbsp;The true goal is for our students to become postsecondary ready - to develop the knowledge, skills, and disposition they need to succeed and survive academically, professionally, socially, and personally. &nbsp;When developing the learning environments of our classroom and planning educational experiences, consider how these four components of postsecondary readiness can be incorporated to truly prepare our students for the demands and responsibilities they will encounter in the real world.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Now THAT'S a Good Question! How to Promote Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning</span>&nbsp;</em>will be published by ASCD in July 2016. &nbsp;For more information, please visit&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</strong></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-40445478075736454102016-07-07T23:13:00.001-07:002016-07-07T23:13:14.748-07:00Now THAT'S a Good Question! How to Promote Cognitive Rigor Through Class...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0PNPuNc3z4o?list=PLeVqCp0GCy7mS1drFP6dv1SlDrVndOsON" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />In this book from ASCD, Erik M. Francis explores how one of the most fundamental instructional strategies—questioning—can provide the proper scaffolding to deepen student thinking, understanding, and application of knowledge.Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-57737765720160196722016-07-05T08:17:00.005-07:002016-07-05T08:47:47.799-07:00The Return of Synthesis: Connecting Critical and Creative Thinking<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">When Lorin Anderson and David Krathwohl (2001) revised the cognitive categories of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy, we might have gained a simpler way to teach, but our students lost an essential skill to learn.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAjgAAAAJGI3OWYyZjcyLWI5NjctNDY1OS1iMTZmLTg2MWY2OWVlOGUwOA.jpg" height="379" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAjgAAAAJGI3OWYyZjcyLWI5NjctNDY1OS1iMTZmLTg2MWY2OWVlOGUwOA.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Anderson and Krathwohl completely revamped this instructional&nbsp;framework we educators we have traditionally used to establish our learning goals and outcomes. &nbsp;The key shifts in their revised taxonomy were the following:</div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">The Cognitive Domain was split into two dimensions -<em>&nbsp;</em>the Knowledge Dimension and the Cognitive Process Dimension.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em>Knowledge&nbsp;</em>was replaced with the cognitive actions of . &nbsp;The subcategories of&nbsp;<em>Knowledge&nbsp;</em>from the original taxonomy were combined into four categories within the Knowledge Domain: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. &nbsp;In 2014, Walkup and Jones expanded this domain by adding&nbsp;three more levels - relevant, deep, and communicative - as part of their definition of the concept of cognitive rigor.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">The&nbsp;names of the categories of the Cognitive Process Domain from conceptual nouns to cognitive verbs. &nbsp;&nbsp;<em>Comprehension</em>&nbsp;became&nbsp;<em>Understanding.&nbsp;</em>&nbsp;<em>Synthesis</em>&nbsp;was renamed&nbsp;<em>Creating</em>. In addition, c<em>reating</em>&nbsp;became the highest level in the classification system, switching places with e<em>valuating</em>. The revised version is now r<em>emembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating,</em>&nbsp;and c<em>reating</em>&nbsp;in that order. &nbsp;Anderson and Krathwohl also shifted the order of the categories, moving <i>evaluate&nbsp;</i>down a level and making&nbsp;<em>create</em>&nbsp;the pinnacle of the taxonomy.</li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">&nbsp;The revised version of Bloom's Taxonomy&nbsp;is truly a much more effective and user-friendly model. &nbsp;It is more directive and explicit. &nbsp;It also is much more applicable in&nbsp;developing&nbsp; benchmark standards&nbsp;that clearly state&nbsp;<em>what the student will be able to&nbsp;</em>do by the end of a particular grade level.&nbsp;It also is beneficial in setting performance objectives&nbsp;for what<em>&nbsp;the student</em>&nbsp;<em>will</em>&nbsp;do as part of a learning experience. &nbsp;It also can be used in setting encouraging and personal learning targets that state what&nbsp;<em>I can</em>&nbsp;and what&nbsp;<em>we will</em>&nbsp;do by the end of a unit or lesson.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">However, the drawback of the revision is that it&nbsp;removed a key cognitive category that is essential for our students to demonstrate and communicate as part of their learning.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><em>Synthesis&nbsp;</em>was the cognitive category in the original taxonomy that addressed how students can put new information together to produce an original work - a plan, a product, or a project. &nbsp;It was also the category which we educators addressed&nbsp;and referred when we wanted our students to demonstrate their ability to&nbsp;<em>create</em>. &nbsp;When we tasked our students to build, create, design, develop, draw, plan, produce, or write something, we would state how&nbsp;<em>The learner will demonstrate synthesis&nbsp;</em>of whatever concept or procedure they were learning and complete the objective by stating what exactly they would do.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">However, synthesizing is actually more synonymous to <i>understanding</i> and <i>applying</i> than creating. &nbsp;<i>&nbsp;Synthesis&nbsp;</i>involves combining ideas and allowing an evolving understanding of text (<a data-mce-href="http://beyondpenguins.ehe.osu.edu/issue/climate-change-and-the-polar-regions/summarizing-and-synthesizing-whats-the-difference" href="http://beyondpenguins.ehe.osu.edu/issue/climate-change-and-the-polar-regions/summarizing-and-synthesizing-whats-the-difference" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Fries-Gaither, 2010</a>). &nbsp;Students are challenged&nbsp;to put&nbsp;pieces together and seeing them in a new way . Essentially, synthesizing is understanding and applying at a higher level. &nbsp; Synthesizing involves&nbsp;both critical and&nbsp;creative thinking.&nbsp; It involves students in processing what they have learned to&nbsp;form a new idea, perspective, or opinion or to generate insight (<a data-mce-href="http://www.ohiorc.org/adlit/strategy/strategy_each.aspx?id=000002#name" href="http://www.ohiorc.org/adlit/strategy/strategy_each.aspx?id=000002#name" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bumgarner, 2016</a>). &nbsp; However, what distinguishes&nbsp;<em>synthesizing</em>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<em>analyzing</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>evaluating</em>&nbsp;is that the knowledge and thinking they demonstrate and communicate is more metacognitive and personal. &nbsp;These are the conclusions, decisions, opinions, perspectives, and thoughts they have developed and drawn based upon the information they have learned. &nbsp;They use the factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge they have acquired and gathered as examples and evidence to strengthen and support their thinking.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><em>Synthesizing</em>, however, is not the same as&nbsp;<em>creating</em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>Creating</em>&nbsp;involves designing, developing, or doing something physical&nbsp;that reflects and represents students' skills and talents. &nbsp;For example, develop and use a model or produce a plan, project, or product. &nbsp; Students&nbsp;<em>synthesize</em>&nbsp;by processing&nbsp;what they have learned&nbsp;into a personal argument, choice, claim, conclusion, decision, opinion, perspective, or point of view they can defend with credible information. &nbsp; They&nbsp;<em>create</em>&nbsp;something to that will reflect and represent not only their thinking but also their talent.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><em>Synthesizing</em>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<em>affective&nbsp;</em>as well as&nbsp;<em>cognitive&nbsp;</em>in that&nbsp;involves processing learning to&nbsp;produce&nbsp;opinions, perspectives, or thoughts fueled by evidence, examples, and emotion. &nbsp;In fact,&nbsp;<em>synthesizing&nbsp;</em>is what engages students in the affective actions of the Affective Domain of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. &nbsp; The following graphic shows how synthesizing &nbsp;guides students through&nbsp;how we internalize what we are learning into personal insight.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAeJAAAAJGQ1YzBlZjI5LWM4YjMtNDk1Yi1hNTVmLTgwMDJkNGViYTM2MQ.png" height="478" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAeJAAAAJGQ1YzBlZjI5LWM4YjMtNDk1Yi1hNTVmLTgwMDJkNGViYTM2MQ.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Receiving:</strong>&nbsp;Students receive factual, conceptual, and procedural&nbsp;information about&nbsp;<em>who, what, where, when, how,&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>why. &nbsp;</em>This occurs as they demonstrate and communicate the ability to and&nbsp;<em>evaluate&nbsp;</em>the ideas, information, texts, techniques, themes, and topics they are reading and reviewing.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Responding: &nbsp;</strong>Students&nbsp;process the information into personal or self-knowledge when they show and tell&nbsp;<em>how do you&nbsp;</em>transfer and use what they have learned to attain and explain answers, outcomes, results, and solutions. &nbsp; They also engage in strategic&nbsp;thinking and problem solving by showing and telling&nbsp;<em>how would you&nbsp;</em>and what they have learned&nbsp;&nbsp;to address and respond to academic and real world circumstances, issues, problems, and situations.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Valuing:&nbsp;</strong>Students use&nbsp;what thay to make and defend decisions using the personal or self-knowledge they have developed. &nbsp;This is when students engage in argumentative thinking,&nbsp;establishing claims and conclusions about&nbsp;<em>do you think.... or should...</em>&nbsp;and making choices about whether&nbsp;<em>do you agree or disagree...</em>&nbsp;&nbsp;This is an essential category within the Affective Domain - and with synthesizing - because it engages students to develop and demonstrate disciplinary literacy, the ability to examine, explore, and explain ideas and information in the subject areas.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Organizing: &nbsp;</strong>Students show and tell how they can use the personal knowledge and thinking they have acquired and developed in different hypothetical scenarios, settings, and situations. &nbsp;They demonstrate&nbsp;and communicate&nbsp;conditional and contextual&nbsp;thinking by addressing and respond&nbsp;<em>what do you do when. &nbsp;</em>They also demonstrate and communicate creative thinking by showing and telling&nbsp;<em>what would you do if</em>. &nbsp;This is also when students begin to develop and demonstrate expert thinking, showing and telling how they would personally use what they have learned in any context.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Characterizing:&nbsp;</strong>This is the highest level&nbsp;of synthesizing, where their knowledge and thinking&nbsp;defines and describes a&nbsp;student's identify as a learner and a scholar. &nbsp;They take what they have learned and express&nbsp;<em>what do you believe, feel,&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>think</em>. &nbsp;They share&nbsp;<em>what is your opinion, perspective,&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>thoughts. &nbsp;</em>Most importantly, they take what's academic and even abstract and use it to explain&nbsp;<em>who are you&nbsp;</em>as a learner in a particular subject area.</li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Since college and career readiness is marked and measured by cognitive rigor and cognitive rigor challenges and engages students to demonstrate higher order thinking and communicate depth of knowledge, perhaps it is a wise decision to bring&nbsp;synthesis back as a separate cognitive category within Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. &nbsp; It should be positioned between&nbsp;the categories of&nbsp;<em>evaluate&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>create</em>. &nbsp;This will be the cognitive category where students will write and present argumentations and express and share their attitudes, beliefs, and feelings about what they are learning. &nbsp;</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Here is a redesign of the Bloom's Questioning Inverted Pyramid I designed that can be used to develop good questions that promote&nbsp;cognitive rigor. &nbsp;Notice&nbsp;where is placed and what distinguishes its&nbsp;question stems from the ones that challenge and engage students . &nbsp;This establishes a more definitive connection&nbsp;and progression between critical and creative thinking.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAi4AAAAJGI5ZjQ2OTQzLTY0OWEtNDk0Ny1hYzc5LTZkOTM4MDM1M2M3Ng.png" height="478" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAi4AAAAJGI5ZjQ2OTQzLTY0OWEtNDk0Ny1hYzc5LTZkOTM4MDM1M2M3Ng.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Next year, when you're teaching and learning for cognitive rigor, be sure to include educational experiences that challenge and engage students to&nbsp;<em>synthesize&nbsp;</em>by asking good questions that ask&nbsp;<em>what do&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;believe, feel,&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>think;</em>&nbsp;<em>how do&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span></em>; how<em>&nbsp;can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;could,&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>how</em>&nbsp;<em>would&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span></em>&nbsp;. &nbsp;Then ask them&nbsp;<em>what can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;design, develop, or&nbsp;do&nbsp;</em>to express that reflects and represents their&nbsp;talent and&nbsp;thinking.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><a data-mce-href="http://shop.ascd.org/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=178271550&amp;Now-That%27s-a-Good-Question!-How-to-Promote-Cognitive-Rigor-Through-Classroom-Questioning" href="http://shop.ascd.org/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=178271550&amp;Now-That%27s-a-Good-Question!-How-to-Promote-Cognitive-Rigor-Through-Classroom-Questioning" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAfjAAAAJDJhODhkN2QxLTZmMGYtNGYzMi1hMWRiLTc4NGVmODg0MzIyZg.png" height="179" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAfjAAAAJDJhODhkN2QxLTZmMGYtNGYzMi1hMWRiLTc4NGVmODg0MzIyZg.png" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-right: 30px; margin-top: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="152" /></a><strong><em>Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor.&nbsp;</em></strong><strong><em>His book&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://shop.ascd.org/Default.aspx?TabID=55&amp;ProductId=178271550&amp;Now-That%27s-a-Good-Question!-How-to-Promote-Cognitive-Rigor-Through-Classroom-Questioning" href="http://shop.ascd.org/Default.aspx?TabID=55&amp;ProductId=178271550&amp;Now-That%27s-a-Good-Question!-How-to-Promote-Cognitive-Rigor-Through-Classroom-Questioning" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Now THAT'S a Good Question! How to Promote&nbsp;Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning&nbsp;</span></a></em>is now available from ASCD.</strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: &quot;Source Sans Pro&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong>For more information on this topic or how to receive professional development at your site, please visit&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</strong></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-81129046686875359462016-06-11T08:46:00.003-07:002016-06-11T08:46:54.253-07:00Active Learning: It's Authentic, Relevant, and Personal All Year Long<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">It's beginning to look a lot like the end of the school year. &nbsp;The state assessments have been taken, the final benchmarks are being completed, and almost every classroom has students&nbsp;<em>busily</em>&nbsp;"doing project-based learning"&nbsp;as a&nbsp;<em>reward</em>&nbsp;for all the hard work they have done all year long, ending the year on a&nbsp;<em>fun</em>&nbsp;note.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">You might be wondering why I put "doing project-based learning" in quotes. &nbsp;It's because that's what I'm hearing from both my colleagues who&nbsp;have been directed by their site administrators to "do project-based learning" as their final activity for the end of the school year. &nbsp;The justification or reason, according to the principal, is "because these kids deserve it after all the work they did to prepare for the state tests and all the benchmarks they took". &nbsp;In other words, reward them those last 20-30 days for all that teaching and test prep they were presented and provided over the past 150-160.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">I even heard from my own daughters that they are "doing project-based learning" in their classroom. &nbsp;My middle school daughter is "doing project-based learning" in all her classes. &nbsp;For example, in social studies, she's completing a PowerPoint timeline on significant events and people&nbsp;during the 1920s. &nbsp; In math, she's using geography to&nbsp;design a city. &nbsp;My 4th grade&nbsp;daughter just did a PowerPoint project on a tiger. &nbsp;When I asked them why they are doing these projects, their response was the same: "The teachers said they wanted to end the year with something&nbsp;<em>fun</em>."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">A few of my teacher friends&nbsp;have approached me over the last couple of weeks asking, "What kind of fun project-based learning can I do between now and the last day of school?" &nbsp;When I ask why do they want to "do project-based learning", they&nbsp;share with&nbsp;me the reward directive, the fun excuse, or even the explanation that, "My kids are just burnt out and done after all the teaching, the testing, and everything else."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Then I'd clarify, "So you want to 'do project-based learning'&nbsp;&nbsp;just to keep them&nbsp;<em>busy</em>&nbsp;between now and the end of the year?"</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Some of my teacher friends will admit without any hesitation that's why they want to "do project-based learning". &nbsp;They are looking for something that will keep the kids preoccupied between now and the last day of school. &nbsp;Others will justify their reasoning by saying that the kids&nbsp;<em>deserve&nbsp;</em>to "do project-based learning" after all the arduous work they had to do prepping for the state test.</div><div class="left" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">When they say the kids&nbsp;<em>deserve&nbsp;</em>to "do project-based learning", I tell them I agree. &nbsp;However, I would then reiterate that they deserve to experience not only project-based learning but also problem-based, inquiry-based, expeditionary, and service learning&nbsp;<em>all year long</em>!</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAdwAAAAJDVhYWM1YTdiLTJmZDEtNDk2ZS05ZDRkLWI3ZmQwMzc3MmM4Nw.png" height="283" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAdwAAAAJDVhYWM1YTdiLTJmZDEtNDk2ZS05ZDRkLWI3ZmQwMzc3MmM4Nw.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="379" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">These active learning experiences should not be a reward students receive at the end of the year. &nbsp;They should be provided&nbsp;throughout the school year either quarterly or even on a unit-by-unit basis. &nbsp;Every unit or quarter should culminate with an active learning experience such as project-based, inquiry-based, problem-based, expeditionary, or service&nbsp;learning that engages and encourages students to transfer and use what they have learned in different academic and real world contexts.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Unfortunately,&nbsp;the real problem with active learning is how these strategies have been perceived and portrayed -&nbsp;<em>fun, &nbsp;rewarding, busy. &nbsp;&nbsp;</em>The more appropriate descriptors for active learning strategies such as project-based learning should be&nbsp;<em>ersonal,</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>relevant</em>.&nbsp; &nbsp;That's it's true purpose - to be an&nbsp;<em>authentic</em>&nbsp;experience that reflects and represents how students will&nbsp;<em>personally</em>&nbsp;address and respond to ideas, information, texts and topics that are&nbsp;<em>relevant</em>. &nbsp;They should challenge and engage students not only know and understand but also develop deeper appreciation&nbsp;and awareness&nbsp;&nbsp;of the importance, value, and worth of the concepts, content, and procedures they are learning.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">They are also described as something that is to be&nbsp;<em>done&nbsp;</em>-- such as we are&nbsp;<em>doing project-based learning&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>doing problem-based learning. &nbsp;</em>&nbsp;The activities involved in these practices&nbsp;are not something to be&nbsp;<em>done</em>. &nbsp;They are meant to be&nbsp;<em>experiences&nbsp;</em>that in which&nbsp;students learn how to transfer and use the knowledge and thinking they have acquired and developed not only accurately but also acceptably, appropriately, and authentically. &nbsp; For example,&nbsp;students will develop deeper appreciation and awareness of the importance of learning the Pythagorean Theorem if they were presented with a role-playing scenario in which they had to use the theorem to determine where to position the fire truck ladder to save people in a burning building. &nbsp;They can&nbsp;also develop a deeper appreciation and awareness of an author's craft or the ideas and themes expressed in a text if they were engaged to produce their own original text that emulates the author's style or addresses the central idea or themes addressed in a text. &nbsp;For example, we can engage students to develop deeper appreciation and awareness of the theme of friendship by having students read&nbsp;<em>Charlotte's Web</em>&nbsp;by E.B. White and also write and produce their own original narrative that addresses and explores the friendship of individuals who are very different from each other.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Most importantly, active learning experiences truly engage and encourage students to&nbsp;<em>remember&nbsp;</em>what they are learning. &nbsp;<em>Remembering&nbsp;</em>in education is not about recalling&nbsp;the facts, information, methods, and process&nbsp;being taught. &nbsp;Students remember the experience in which they learned the concepts, content, and procedures. &nbsp;Think about it. &nbsp;What classroom experiences do you remember from your own education? &nbsp;Do you remember the day you did that worksheet that taught you how to compare fractions? &nbsp;Do you remember that particular spelling test in which you learned how to spell chrysanthemum? &nbsp;Do you remember that homework assignment with the questions you had to answer at the end of the book? &nbsp;Or, do you remember that classroom experience in which you truly developed deeper appreciation and awareness of a text or topic because your teacher had you demonstrate and communicate your learning through creative design (project-based learning), research and investigate the subject (inquiry-based learning), use what you have learned to address a problem (problem-based learning) in the world at large (expeditionary learning) or within your community (service learning)?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Active learning, however, can be daunting and overwhelming for both our students and us teachers. &nbsp;&nbsp;That's why I suggest keep active learning simple initially. &nbsp;Assign one active learning experience per semester to familiarize yourself and your students with the experience. &nbsp; You could also follow these steps:</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">1. Start with&nbsp;<strong>inquiry-based learning</strong>&nbsp;experiences that prompt students to think deeply and express and share the depth and extent of their knowledge. &nbsp;Through this experience, students will learn how to address and respond to questions not only accurately but also acceptably, appropriately, and authentically using some form&nbsp;of oral, written, creative, or technical expression. &nbsp;Use the Cognitive Rigor Questions Framework I feature in my book&nbsp;<em><a href="http://shop.ascd.org/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=178271550&amp;Now-That%27s-a-Good-Question!-How-to-Promote-Cognitive-Rigor-Through-Classroom-Questioning" target="_blank">Now THAT'S a Good Question!&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;</em>(ASCD, 2016)&nbsp;to help you rephrase the performance objectives of academic standards into good&nbsp;questions that will set the instructional focus and serve as assessments for units and their individual lessons.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAkHAAAAJDY0MTNhMDQ4LWMwNjItNGFmYS04YWE3LWNkZTkwOTBkMGExZg.png" height="306" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAkHAAAAJDY0MTNhMDQ4LWMwNjItNGFmYS04YWE3LWNkZTkwOTBkMGExZg.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="437" />2. Provide a&nbsp;<strong>project-based learning</strong>&nbsp;experience that encourages&nbsp;students to address a driving essential question that asks&nbsp;<em>what can you design / develop / do, how could / would you,&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>what do you believe / feel / think.&nbsp;</em>&nbsp;Don't have the students all do the same project. &nbsp;Provide them the opportunity to choose how they will demonstrate and communicate the depth and extent of their learning. &nbsp;You can use the Multiple Intelligence Activity Grid I created to engage and encourage students to show and tell the depth and extent of their learning using their innate talents.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAgmAAAAJDhjNzZiYWM3LWYwNzEtNGZiZS04NDE3LWVhMDk0MWFiZmI0Zg.png" height="357" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAgmAAAAJDhjNzZiYWM3LWYwNzEtNGZiZS04NDE3LWVhMDk0MWFiZmI0Zg.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="471" />3. Present a&nbsp;<strong>problem-based learning&nbsp;</strong>experience that has students use what they have learned to determine whether a problem can be solved or can it only be addressed, handled, settled, resolved - or even avoided. &nbsp;Use this Problem-Based Learning Table I developed based on&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1080&amp;context=ijpbl" href="http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1080&amp;context=ijpbl" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Jonassen's Typology of Problems</a>&nbsp;(2008) to help you present different kinds of problems that resemble the ones students will experience in their professional and personal lives.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAe3AAAAJDAzMmU0NGY0LTM0M2MtNGEzNC04YjMwLTg3ZWFiOGVhNzZkOQ.png" height="354" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAe3AAAAJDAzMmU0NGY0LTM0M2MtNGEzNC04YjMwLTg3ZWFiOGVhNzZkOQ.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="498" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">4. Expand students' awareness and appreciation of what they are learning by involving&nbsp;them in an&nbsp;<strong>expeditionary learning&nbsp;</strong>experience that engages them to use the academic concepts and procedures they are learning in a real world setting. &nbsp;Extend the experience by having students use what they are learning to address and respond to an issue, problem, situation, or topic in their community - globally, nationally, statewide, locally, or even within the school - through a&nbsp;<strong>service learning&nbsp;</strong>&nbsp;experience.&nbsp;</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">This is what should be occurring in our classroom ALL YEAR LONG - not just as the end. &nbsp; This is the educational experience our students should be receiving. &nbsp;This is the learning environment in which your students should be developing and demonstrating not only their knowledge and thinking but also their skills and talent. &nbsp;Don't&nbsp;<em>reward</em>&nbsp;our students for all their&nbsp;<em>hard work&nbsp;</em>all year by providing them with a&nbsp;<em>fun&nbsp;</em>task that will keep them&nbsp;<em>busy&nbsp;</em>until the last day of school. &nbsp;Make active learning the&nbsp;<em>engaging&nbsp;</em>educational experience that will not only help our students develop deeper knowledge and thinking but also deeper appreciation and awareness of what they are learning.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Also, watch and witness how deeply your students will learn and how well they will perform on the state standardized assessments and school benchmarks if you provide students with active learning experiences that are authentic, personal, and relevant all year long.</div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-81216502635446497242016-06-04T21:43:00.001-07:002016-06-04T21:43:25.592-07:00H.O.T. / D.O.K.: Depth of Knowledge or Extent of Learning?<a href="http://maverikeducation.blogspot.com/2016/06/depth-of-knowledge-or-extent-of-learning.html?spref=bl">H.O.T. / D.O.K.: Depth of Knowledge or Extent of Learning?</a>: What if depth of knowledge actually has nothing to do with knowledge at all? Just let that simmer for a moment and consider this - or, as...Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-63598600180034016592016-06-04T15:03:00.002-07:002016-06-04T15:03:36.701-07:00Depth of Knowledge or Extent of Learning?<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">What if depth of knowledge actually has nothing to do with knowledge at all?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Just let that simmer for a moment and consider this - or, as Hans and Frans used to say, "Hear me now and listen to me later."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><a data-mce-href="http://facstaff.wceruw.org/normw/WEBBMonograph6criteria.pdf" href="http://facstaff.wceruw.org/normw/WEBBMonograph6criteria.pdf" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Webb (1997)</a>&nbsp;explains how depth of knowledge "can vary on a number of dimensions, including level of cognitive complexity of information students should be expected to know, how well they should be able to transfer this knowledge to different contexts, how well they should be able to form generalizations, and how much prerequisite knowledge they must have in order to grasp ideas". &nbsp; Hess (<a data-mce-href="http://www.syracusecityschools.com/tfiles/folder709/DOK_ApplyingWebb_KH08.pdf" href="http://www.syracusecityschools.com/tfiles/folder709/DOK_ApplyingWebb_KH08.pdf" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">2006</a>) describes the levels within Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge Model - which Webb himself describes as "nominative" rather than as a taxonomy that scaffolds - as "ceilings" that indicate "different ways students interact with content". &nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Take a close look at what both Webb and Hess, who are highly regarded as the experts on depth of knowledge, are saying. &nbsp;Webb talks about students'&nbsp;ability "to transfer the knowledge to different contexts". &nbsp;Hess elaborates by explaining how the depth of knowledge levels indicate"different ways interact with content" - or rather, different contexts.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">So perhaps depth of knowledge is truly not about developing and demonstrating thinking and knowledge - or rather, cognition and content as categorized in the Cognitive Domain of Bloom's Taxonomy that was revised by Lorin Anderson and David Krathwohl (2001). Perhaps depth of knowledge is actually about&nbsp;context - the different scenarios, setting, and situations - or ways - knowledge can be&nbsp;transferred&nbsp;and used.&nbsp;</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAWRAAAAJDY2ZGM1YjUwLWUyMTYtNGVkYi1hZDZiLTFhYmMwODc1ZDg5ZQ.jpg" height="480" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAWRAAAAJDY2ZGM1YjUwLWUyMTYtNGVkYi1hZDZiLTFhYmMwODc1ZDg5ZQ.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="641" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Perhaps when developing learning environments&nbsp;and delivering educational experiences that foster and promote depth of knowledge based upon the levels of Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge Model, we should use these&nbsp;criteria to mark and measure how deeply and extensively students will&nbsp;be expected to demonstrate and communicate their learning:</div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>DOK-1: What is the knowledge?&nbsp;</strong>The context at this level of knowledge is topical, focusing on the specific concepts and content being taught and learned in class. &nbsp;&nbsp;<em>&nbsp;</em>For example, in English language arts, the instructional focus is on&nbsp;the specific text or particular topic being read and reviewed. &nbsp; Similarly, in history and social studies, the instructional focus is on specific ideas, incidents, and individuals that occurred during a particular period of time. &nbsp;In math and science, the instructional focus is on concepts, procedures, and terminology. &nbsp;The objective is for students to read and research to build the background knowledge&nbsp;and&nbsp;foundational understanding. &nbsp;The goal is for students to process the information they have acquired and developed into the knowledge they will need to draw upon and use to attain and explain answers, conclusions, decisions, outcomes, results, and solutions.&nbsp;</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>D.O.K.-2: How can the knowledge be used? &nbsp;</strong>The context at this level is applicable, involving&nbsp;students in&nbsp;demonstrating and communicating - or&nbsp;<em>showing and telling</em>&nbsp;- how they can use the knowledge they have developed. &nbsp;For example, in English language arts, the instructional focus is on how authors and texts use the elements of craft, structure, and language to present ideas and information. &nbsp;In history and social studies, the instructional focus is on how ideas, incidents, and individuals can be categorized, classified, and compared; In math, the instructional focus is on how mathematical concepts and procedures can be used to solve mathematical algorithmic and word problems. &nbsp;Similarly in science, the instructional focus is on how scientific&nbsp;concepts and procedures can be used to produce a particular outcome or result. &nbsp;The objective is for students to examine, experiment with, and explain how and why concepts and procedures can be used. &nbsp;The goal is for students to understand and use these concepts and procedures to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, and analyze texts and topics.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>D.O.K.-3: Why&nbsp;Can the Knowledge Be Used? &nbsp;</strong>The context at this<strong>&nbsp;</strong>level is &nbsp;multidimensional<strong>,</strong>&nbsp;engaging students to think critically and strategically about reasons, relationships, and results and how and why answers and outcomes are accurate, achievable, and attainable. &nbsp; The context&nbsp;can be&nbsp;reflective, engaging students&nbsp;to think strategically transfer and use what they have learned to attain&nbsp;<em>and</em>&nbsp;explain causes, connections, and consequences. &nbsp;In these contexts, students are presented the outcome or result of a scenario or situation and asked to&nbsp;transfer and use what they have learned to defend, explain, and justify&nbsp;<em>why&nbsp;</em>it is practical, possible, or even proper. &nbsp;In English language arts, the instructional focus is on explaining the impact of a text or topic and its intended - or unintended -&nbsp;effect on the reader or audience based upon how its written and presented. &nbsp;Similarly, in history and social studies, the instructional focus is on explaining the impact and effect of historical ideas, incidents, and individuals. &nbsp;In math, the instructional focus is on using reasoning and proof to defend, explain, and justify&nbsp;why an answer or solution to a mathematical algorithmic or word problem is correct or incorrect. &nbsp;In science, the instructional focus is on explaining why can science be used to explain a natural event or phenomena. &nbsp; &nbsp;DOK-3 contexts can also be hypothetical, asking students transfer and use the knowledge they have acquired and developed consider, imagine, and predict, and validate - or invalidate -&nbsp;<em>what if, what could happen, what would happen,&nbsp;</em>or and&nbsp;<em>how will</em>. &nbsp;DOK-3 contexts can also argumentative, engaging students to transfer and use the knowledge they have acquired and developed as examples and evidence to strengthen and support their claims and conclusions. &nbsp;In essence, the objective is for students not to transfer and use the knowledge they have acquired and developed to&nbsp;describe&nbsp;<em>what is the answer&nbsp;</em>or demonstrate&nbsp;<em>how can the answer be attained&nbsp;</em>but decide and defend&nbsp;<em>why is this the answer.&nbsp;</em></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>D.O.K.-4: What else can be done with the knowledge?</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;The context&nbsp;at this level is extensive, encouraging students to look beyond the teacher, the text, the topic, and even themselves to explore&nbsp;<em>how else can the knowledge be used&nbsp;</em>and express&nbsp;<em>what can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;do with the</em><em>&nbsp;knowledge</em>. &nbsp;At this level, students are demonstrating expert thinking and communicating disciplinary literacy - the ability to read, write, and think in the academic disciplines. &nbsp; These learning experiences take students across the curriculum and beyond the classroom to explore how and why can the deeper and extensive knowledge they have acquired be transferred and used to address and respond to a variety of academic and real world circumstances, issues, problems, and situations. &nbsp;In English language arts, the instructional focus is on exploring how the central&nbsp;ideas and themes expressed in a particular&nbsp;may be expressed&nbsp;similarly or differently in another text within a the same or different genre or written by the same or different author. &nbsp;In math, the instructional focus is on exploring how can the mathematical concepts, operations, procedures, and theories can be used to address and solve complex real world problems. &nbsp;Similarly in science, the instructional focus is on extensively exploring and explaining natural events and phenomena through scientific inquiry and engineering design. &nbsp;In history and social studies, the instructional focus is on exploring and establishing the lasting and long-term impact and relevancy of historical ideas, incidents, and individuals. &nbsp; The objective is to make the concepts and content students are learning practical and personal by encouraging them to experiment with and design how else could they transfer and use what they have learned beyond what has been presented to them in class as an assignment or an assessment. &nbsp;The goal is for students to develop self-knowledge and awareness of why the&nbsp;concepts and content is important and vital - or essential - to learn and how can they personally use what they have learned academically, professionally, and personally.</li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">When&nbsp;considering&nbsp;what level of Webb's model a learning experience falls - be it for planning or evaluating instruction - use the following questions to guide you:</div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Is the expectation for the students to show&nbsp;and tell&nbsp;<em>what is the knowledge&nbsp;</em>that defines the concept or content?&nbsp; Then the learning experience would be designated as a DOK-1.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Is the expectation for the students to show and tell&nbsp;<em>how can the knowledge be used&nbsp;</em>to answer a question, address a problem, accomplish&nbsp;a task, or analyze a text or topic? &nbsp;Then the learning experience would be designated as a DOK-2.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Is the expectation for the students to show and tell&nbsp;<em>why can the knowledge be used&nbsp;</em>to attain&nbsp;and explain&nbsp;answers, conclusions, decisions, outcomes, results, and solutions? &nbsp;Then the learning experience would be designated as a DOK-3.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">If the expectation for the students to show and tell&nbsp;<em>what else can be done with the knowledge&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>how can you use the knowledge&nbsp;</em>in different academic and real world contexts o? &nbsp;Then the learning experience would be designated as a DOK-4.</li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Hopefully this clears some confusion about what exactly depth of knowledge. &nbsp;It's not about the content or the cognition but rather the context in which the knowledge and thinking can be transferred and used - topically, applicably, multidimensionally, or extensively.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Now THAT'S a Good Question! How to Promote Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning</span>&nbsp;</em>will be published by ASCD in July 2016. &nbsp;For more information, please visit&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</strong></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-91663107904023048522016-04-20T17:24:00.002-07:002016-04-20T17:24:20.275-07:00What Is Cognitive Rigor?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Rigor has become the educational "buzzword" of the 21st Century. &nbsp;Cognitive rigor is marked and measured by the depth and extent students are challenged and engaged to demonstrate and communicate their knowledge and thinking. &nbsp;It also&nbsp;marks and measures the depth and complexity of student learning experiences. &nbsp;This instructional model developed by&nbsp;<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a data-mce-href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED517804.pdf" href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED517804.pdf" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Karin Hess, Dennis Carlock, Ben Jones, and John Walkup (2009)</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;superimposes two educational frameworks that are commonly used to establish&nbsp;performance objectives&nbsp;and learning targets:​</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">Bloom's Revised Taxonomy:<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></strong>The revised version by<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Taxonomy-Learning-Teaching-Assessing-Educational/dp/0321084055" href="http://www.amazon.com/Taxonomy-Learning-Teaching-Assessing-Educational/dp/0321084055" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Lorin Anderson and David Krathwohl (2001)</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;defines the kind of knowledge and type of thinking students are expected to demonstrate in order to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, and analyze texts and topics. &nbsp;In their revised version, Anderson and Krathwohl distinguishes between knowledge and thinking by&nbsp;splitting&nbsp;the Cognitive Domain of Bloom's Taxonomy into two dimensions that address the following:</div><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; orphans: auto; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">The Knowledge Dimension (Content and Concepts)</strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">The Cognitive Process Dimension (Cognition)</strong></li></ul><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">​Each of these dimensions within the Cognitive Domain ​of the revised taxonomy&nbsp;categorizes "the skills and stuff"&nbsp;students will learn based upon their complexity.&nbsp;</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp;The skills are the cognitive actions and processes students are expected to demonstrate and develop. &nbsp;The stuff is the curriculum and subject matter that is being taught and learned - or what the landmark report&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://datacenter.spps.org/uploads/sotw_a_nation_at_risk_1983.pdf" href="http://datacenter.spps.org/uploads/sotw_a_nation_at_risk_1983.pdf" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A Nation at Risk (1983)</a>&nbsp;describes as "the very stuff of education". &nbsp;By splitting the Cognitive Domain into two dimensions, Bloom's Revised Taxonomy clearly distinguishes between the subject matter content (knowledge) that is being taught and learned and what students must do (thinking) with what they are learning.&nbsp;</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge Model:&nbsp;</strong>​The depth of knowledge levels in the model developed by&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/2711181C-2108-40C4-A7F8-76F243C9B910/0/DOKFourContentAreas.pdf" href="http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/2711181C-2108-40C4-A7F8-76F243C9B910/0/DOKFourContentAreas.pdf" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Norman Webb (1997, 2002)</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>establishes&nbsp;how deeply or extensively students are expected to transfer and use what they are learning. &nbsp;This model consists of four levels:</div><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; orphans: auto; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">DOK-1: Recall and Reproduction</strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">DOK-2: Basic Application of Skills and Concepts</strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">DOK-3: Strategic Thinking</strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">DOK-4: Extended Thinking​​</strong></li></ul><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">​While Bloom's and Webb's both deal with establishing and evaluatIng the depth and complexity of student&nbsp;learning experiences,&nbsp;they differ in regards to their their scope, application, and sequencing.&nbsp;</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Bloom's defines the skills (cognition) and stuff (content, concepts, and courses of action) students will learn&nbsp;as part of an educational experience. &nbsp;Webb's designates the scenario, setting, or situation (context) in which students will transfer and use the deeper knowledge and thinking they have acquired and developed. &nbsp;The "rigor" of a learning experience is marked and measured how deeply students are expected to think about what they are learning and how extensively they are to express and share what they have learned.​</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Also, Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge Model is not a taxonomy that scaffolds based on complexity like Bloom's. &nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.nciea.org/publications/DOKreading_KH08.pdf" href="http://www.nciea.org/publications/DOKreading_KH08.pdf" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Hess (2006)</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>describes the Webb's levels as "ceilings" that designate&nbsp;how deeply or extensively students are expected to transfer and use the knowledge and understanding they have acquired and developed. For example, learning experiences at a DOK-1 level expects students to&nbsp;develop and demonstrate background knowledge or foundational understanding about a specific text or topic. &nbsp;An educational experience at a&nbsp;DOK-2 level challenges students to examine and explain how academic concepts and skills can be used to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, and analyze specific texts and topics. &nbsp;An educational experience at a DOK-3 level engages students to think strategically about how and why they can transfer and use what they are learning to attain and explain answers, outcomes, results, and solutions. &nbsp;A learning experience at a DOK-4 level encourages students to think extensively about what else can be done with the deeper&nbsp;knowledge and understanding they have acquired and developed as well as how can they personally use what they have learned in a variety of academic or real world contexts.&nbsp;</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">​<strong style="font-weight: bold;">Teaching and learning for cognitive rigor</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>expects students to demonstrate<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><em style="font-style: italic;">and</em><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>communicate their learning. &nbsp; The cognitive categories of&nbsp;Bloom's Revised Taxonomy --which&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Taxonomy-Learning-Teaching-Assessing-Educational/dp/0321084055" href="http://www.amazon.com/Taxonomy-Learning-Teaching-Assessing-Educational/dp/0321084055" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Anderson and Krathwohl (2001)</a>&nbsp;renames&nbsp;as verbs -defines and determines what students will do&nbsp;with the concepts and content they are learning. &nbsp;Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge levels designates how deeply and extensively students will express and share&nbsp;their knowledge and understanding. &nbsp;The cognitive rigor of a learning experience is marked and measured by how deeply and extensively students are expected to demonstrate and communicate the knowledge and thinking they have acquired and developed. &nbsp;Cognitive rigor challenges and engages students to express and share their deeper knowledge and thinking both concretely and abstractly through description, discussion, and design.&nbsp;</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">​<a data-mce-href="http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/siteASCD/video/buildingacademic.pdf" href="http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/siteASCD/video/buildingacademic.pdf" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Marzano's (2004</a>;<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Vocabulary-Common-Core-Robert-Marzano/dp/0985890223" href="http://www.amazon.com/Vocabulary-Common-Core-Robert-Marzano/dp/0985890223" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">with Simms, 2013</a>) methodology of deepening background academic knowledge through direct vocabulary instruction and language development&nbsp;fosters and promotes communication of depth of knowledge by challenging and engaging students to do the following:</div><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; orphans: auto; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Describe, explain, and elaborate upon ideas and information with textual evidence and personal&nbsp;examples.​</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">​Rephrase or restate formal definitions and explanations in their own words and in their own unique way.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Convey&nbsp;deeper knowledge&nbsp;through linguistic (language-based) and nonlinguistic (image-based) representations.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;">Express and share depth of&nbsp;knowledge through oral, written, creative, or technical communication.</li></ul><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">The communication of knowledge and thinking can be tiered based upon its complexity based upon the criteria set by<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Words-Life-Second-Edition/dp/1462508162" href="http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Words-Life-Second-Edition/dp/1462508162" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2002)</a>. &nbsp;</div><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; orphans: auto; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">Tier 1 Communication:</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>Students understand&nbsp;and use&nbsp;concrete and high frequency&nbsp;words, expressing knowledge and ideas&nbsp;using everyday speech,&nbsp;and developing English language acquisition. &nbsp;</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">Tier 2 Communication:</strong>&nbsp;Students determine and distinguish words with multiple meanings, develop understanding of general academic words and cognitive action verbs (e.g. analyze, apply, interpret, evaluate), and express knowledge, understanding, and usage of complex language. &nbsp;</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">Tier 3 Communication:</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>Students develop&nbsp;and demonstrate&nbsp;of disciplinary literacy - reading, writing, speaking,&nbsp;listening, and using domain-specific language in the academic disciplines.</li></ul><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Tiering the communication of knowledge by its level of complexity helps students better&nbsp;understand how to consider the task, purpose, and audience when sharing ideas and information. &nbsp;It&nbsp;also serves as a method to foster and promote English language development, helping students with limited English proficiency to develop and demonstrate deeper knowledge and understanding of how to express themselves in English in different contexts.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">​<strong style="font-weight: bold;">Questioning for cognitive rigor<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></strong>is an instructional method that supports teaching and learning for higher order thinking, depth of knowledge, and language development. &nbsp;It involves rephrasing academic standards, performance objectives, and learning targets into<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #008cc9; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">good questions</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>that prompt and encourage students to think deeply and express and share the depth and extent of their learning. &nbsp;It also makes learning environments and educational experiences more active and authentic, challenging and engaging students to attain and explain answers, outcomes, results, and solutions using the content, concepts, and procedures they are learning. &nbsp;It also supports differentiated instruction, encouraging students to show and tell the depth and extent of the self-knowledge and awareness they have acquired and developed in their own unique way.​</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">The instructional delivery of questioning for cognitive rigor can be scaffolded in the following manner:</div><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; orphans: auto; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">C.R.Q.-1: What are the skills and stuff?&nbsp;</strong>&nbsp;Students show and tell background knowledge and understanding of academic vocabulary and subject-specific details and terminology.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">​C.R.Q.-2: How can the skills and stuff be used?<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></strong>&nbsp;Students show and tell how to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, and analyze texts and topics.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">C.R.Q.-3: Why can the skills and stuff be used?</strong>&nbsp; Students show and tell why&nbsp;answers, conclusions, outcomes, results, and solutions are accurate or inaccurate, true or false, or valid or invalid using what they have learned.</li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">C.R.Q.-4: What else can you do with the skills and stuff? &nbsp;</strong>Students show and tell what they personally can do with the deeper knowledge they have acquired and developed into thinking and talent and how else the skills and stuff can be used in different academic and real world contexts.</li></ul><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Categorizing and scaffolding questioning for cognitive rigor in this manner fosters higher order thinking in that students must actively acquire and gather the information they need to develop and&nbsp;process into the deeper knowledge and understanding they can transfer and use in different academic and real world contexts. &nbsp;It also addresses each kind of knowledge students must develop and demonstrate as categorized in the Knowledge Dimension of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. &nbsp;Questioning for cognitive rigor&nbsp;also extends depth of knowledge by engaging and encouraging students to express and share the knowledge they have acquired and developed authentically through some format or type of oral, written, creative, or technical communication.</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp;By using good questions instead of performance objectives that direct students simply&nbsp;<em style="font-style: italic;">to do something&nbsp;</em>to prove they are learning, we not only prompt students to think deeply about the texts and topics they are reading and reviewing but also express and share how they can use the concepts and procedures they are learning in detail, in-depth, insightfully, and in their own unique way. &nbsp;That's what truly marks and measures rigorous learning!</div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;"><em style="font-style: italic;">Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Now THAT'S a Good Question! How to Promote Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning</span>&nbsp;</em>will be published by ASCD in July 2016. &nbsp;For more information, please visit<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</strong></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-70846029772341950492016-03-27T07:58:00.002-07:002016-03-27T07:58:22.086-07:00Why Asking "What Is the Central Idea or Theme?" Is a Bad Question<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the worst question we can ask our students but the one we reading and English language arts teachers often use and even rely upon as evidence that we are challenging and engaging our students to think critically and deeply about the texts and topics we are reading and reviewing?</div><div class="center" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the central idea or&nbsp;theme of a story or text?</em></strong></div><div class="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What's ironic is that this very question is considered&nbsp;to be a&nbsp;good question &nbsp;-- or even&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the best</em>&nbsp;--&nbsp;that we can ask our students to&nbsp;stimulate their deeper thinking and deepen their knowledge, understanding, and awareness about the meaning and message presented in the texts and topics being&nbsp;read and reviewing in class. &nbsp;When ask students&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what is the central idea or theme</em>, our intent and purpose is for students to think critically about the meaning or message presented in the text either concretely or abstractly. &nbsp; We also believe we are challenging students to demonstrate higher order thinking -- specifically, the ability to analyze and evaluate. &nbsp;</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The&nbsp;question&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what is the central idea or theme&nbsp;</em>should be&nbsp;an open-ended inquiry&nbsp;that should&nbsp;challenge and engage&nbsp;students to think critically and creatively about the meaning and messages presented in texts. &nbsp;It is an interpretive inquiry that&nbsp;should&nbsp;prompt and encourage students to express and share their own impressions and perceptions&nbsp;of the central idea and theme of a text. &nbsp;However,&nbsp;students' responses to this question should not be based on emotion or opinion alone. &nbsp;They should justify their interpretation or perception of the central idea or theme by&nbsp;citing specific evidence from the text&nbsp;or explain the logical inferences made by the author.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Unfortunately, the real&nbsp;problem with asking&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what is the central idea and theme&nbsp;</em>is it's posed&nbsp;as a closed-ended question that students can only answer correctly or incorrectly. &nbsp; What's also interesting is how we pose or present&nbsp;the question&nbsp;does not resemble&nbsp;or reflect how the question is asked on formative and summative assessments. &nbsp;Usually, we want students to provide a short answer or write an essay that describes and explains&nbsp;what is the central idea and theme. &nbsp;Questions about the central idea or theme of a text or passage generally looks like this:</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="center" data-loading-tracked="true" height="616" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrinknp_800_800/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAWnAAAAJDM5NDQyMWM2LWU3MGYtNDU3Yi04YzNmLTJkMzg4NTY5MDljMA.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;" width="640" /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Consider what students are expected to demonstrate and communicate here. &nbsp;Its intent and purpose is to assess whether the student understands&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what is the central idea or theme</em>. &nbsp; While the question asks students to think deeper, in regards to depth of knowledge, asking&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what is the central idea or theme</em>&nbsp;could be categorized as a D.O.K-1 &nbsp;because it is asking them to recall and reproduce what the central idea or theme is as accurately and explicitly as it was taught or told to them by the text or the teacher. Also, if you think about it, multiple choice&nbsp;questions such as these provide&nbsp;the students the correct answer. &nbsp;They just have to read the text and figure out which is the correct answer from the other three distractors. &nbsp;Questions such as these&nbsp;also give students the impression that there can only be one central idea or theme expressed in a text.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Questions such as these also&nbsp;control or directs their thinking. &nbsp;It also forces students to accept or agree with what one source states is the theme. &nbsp;It could also damper or even dissuade students from thinking critically and creatively when they are reading and reviewing text - especially if they can't or don't&nbsp;recognize and agree with what is presented or portrayed to be the central idea or theme.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That's why this is a bad question - or even the worst question we could ask students.&nbsp;</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Literary texts are&nbsp;highly complex and dynamic - especially literary fiction that can address and allude to numerous ideas and themes. &nbsp;Just look up any text explained by&nbsp;supplemental references such as&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cliffsnotes.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #8c68cb; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">CliffsNotes</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sparknotes.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #8c68cb; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Spark Notes</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="http://www.shmoop.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #8c68cb; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Shmoop</a>&nbsp;that are meant to help students understand the complex ideas, motifs, symbols, and themes addressed and expressed in texts. &nbsp; &nbsp;Literary analysts and critics also have their own unique impressions and interpretations of different texts and the meaning and messages they express. &nbsp;However, who is to say they are accurate or even right?</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So how can we ask good questions -- or at least&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">better&nbsp;</em>ones -- that not only reflect the type of questions about central idea and theme on standardized assessments but also challenge and engage students to demonstrate and communicate the following:</div><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 27px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 35px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Determine the central idea or theme of a text.</li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Analyze how the central idea or theme of a text develops.</li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Summarize how key details and ideas strengthen and support the central idea or theme of a text.</li></ul><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">These are the performance objectives that mark and measure cognitive rigor as well as college and career readiness. &nbsp;However, when we ask , we're only addressing that first performance objective. &nbsp;Just look when we state these performance objectives as cognitive rigor learning goals that challenge and engage students to show and tell higher order thinking and depth of knowledge:</div><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 27px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 35px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Show and tell what is the central idea or theme of a text.</li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Show and tell how does the central idea or theme of a text develop.</li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Show and tell how do the key &nbsp;details and ideas strengthen and support the central idea or&nbsp;theme of a text.</li></ul><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Take away and you have these questions:</div><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 27px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 35px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the central idea or theme of a text?</li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How does the central idea or theme of a text develop?</li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How do the key details and ideas strengthen and support the central idea or theme of a text?</li></ul><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When asked together, these good questions scaffold the level of thinking and extend the depth of knowledge students should&nbsp;demonstrate and communicate - or show and tell. &nbsp;That's how we can make&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what is the central idea or theme of a text&nbsp;</em>a good -- or&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">better --&nbsp;</em>question.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">However, these are overarching essential questions that challenge and engage students to show and tell their conceptual and procedural knowledge of the central idea and theme of texts and how can both be determined. &nbsp;In English language arts, good questions must focus on the specific text being read and reviewed and the central ideas and themes they express and infer.</div><div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So what if instead of asking students&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what is the central idea or theme&nbsp;</em>we ask students the following good question?</div><div class="center" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How does the text address the following central idea or themes?</em></strong></div><div class="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Then, instead of having students identify the central ideas or themes, we list what the themes are and encourage students to&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">think strategically&nbsp;</em>(D.O.K.-3) how the text addresses these ideas and themes by citing specific details or making logical inferences. &nbsp;Asking questions about central idea and theme would look like these:</div><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 35px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How does&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Green Eggs and Ham</span>&nbsp;by Dr. Seuss address the following ideas?&nbsp;</em></strong><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Change can be scary but good. &nbsp;Try new things. &nbsp;Keep an open mind. Don’t judge appearances. &nbsp;Don't take life too seriously.</em></strong></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How does&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Charlotte's Web</span>&nbsp;by E.B. White address the following themes? admiration, friendship, home, perseverance, time,&nbsp;life and death</em></strong></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How does&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</span>&nbsp;address the following themes? &nbsp;</em></strong><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">family, wealth vs. poverty, greed, reward and punishment, appearances, parenting, vice, good things come in small packages, what comes around goes around</em></strong></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How does&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Diary of a Young Girl</span>&nbsp;by Anne Frank address the following ideas?&nbsp;</em></strong><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">isolation, youth and coming-of-age, identity, religion, virtue, friendship and loyalty, adolescence, the horrors of war, generosity and greed during wartime</em></strong></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How does&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">The Odyssey</span>&nbsp;by Homer address the following themes? &nbsp;heroism, hospitality, family, loyalty, perseverance, justice, vengeance, piety, pride, temptation, fate vs. free will, appearances vs. reality, spiritual growth, cunning vs. strength, suffering, rules, tradition, customs</em></strong></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How does&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Romeo and Juliet</span>&nbsp;address the following themes?&nbsp;love, fate vs. free will, hate, youth and maturity, foolishness and folly, gender and masculinity, marriage, mortality, transience, exile, feuds and grudges, sex&nbsp;</em></strong></li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How does the Declaration of Independence address the following ideas? all men are created equal, all men have basic human rights given to them by God, autocracy, government must be by the consent of the governed, &nbsp;unalienable rights, governments are built for the sole purpose of protecting these basic rights,&nbsp;the abuse of leadership and power and its consequences, sovereignty and justice,&nbsp;people have the right to rebel against and overthrow their government</em></strong></li><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Notice the difference between how these questions are posed. &nbsp;Yes, the answer of&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what is the central idea or theme&nbsp;</em>is provided in the question. &nbsp;However,&nbsp;these good questions can be used to set the instructional focus and serve as summative assessments for the texts being read and reviewed. &nbsp;They can also inform&nbsp;students&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what is the&nbsp;intent or purpose</em>&nbsp;for reading and responding to the particular text&nbsp;being reviewed in class.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Also, consider how broad&nbsp;and global&nbsp;these ideas and themes are. &nbsp;These are dynamic issues and topics that&nbsp;not only address the meaning of life but are interpreted&nbsp;and perceived&nbsp;by different perspectives, philosophies, and points view. &nbsp;Just look at the ideas and themes of&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">love, life and death</em>,&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">greed vs. generosity, wealth vs, poverty,&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">family</em>. &nbsp;What is the formal definition of each as defined in a dictionary? &nbsp;What is the scientific explanation, the religious&nbsp;<span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">perspective, the social connotation, or even the students'&nbsp;own personal philosophy? &nbsp;All of these are good universal essential questions we can ask students to deepen and extend students knowledge, understanding, and awareness. &nbsp;They can also prompt deeper conversations and discussions amongst their classmates and with you. &nbsp;However, be sure to facilitate the discussion rather than direct or lead it. &nbsp;Remember - we want our students to think and come up with their own impressions and interpretations based upon the definitions they acquire and discussions they have. &nbsp;</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Also, consider how broad&nbsp;and global&nbsp;these ideas and themes are. &nbsp;These are dynamic issues and topics that&nbsp;not only address the meaning of life but are interpreted&nbsp;and perceived&nbsp;by different perspectives, philosophies, and points view. &nbsp;Just look at the ideas and themes of&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">love, life and death</em>,&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">greed vs. generosity, wealth vs, poverty,&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">family</em>. &nbsp;What is the formal definition of each as defined in a dictionary? &nbsp;What is the scientific explanation, the religious perspective, the social connotation, or even the students'&nbsp;own personal philosophy? &nbsp;All of these are good universal essential questions we can ask students to deepen and extend students knowledge, understanding, and awareness. &nbsp;They can also prompt deeper conversations and discussions amongst their classmates and with you. &nbsp;However, be sure to facilitate the discussion rather than direct or lead it. &nbsp;Remember - we want our students to think and come up with their own impressions and interpretations based upon the definitions they acquire and discussions they have. &nbsp;</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Once a clear definition or explanation of these broad and grand ideas and themes are&nbsp;established within the classroom, we can then ask students&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">how does the text as a whole or a part of the text address this idea or theme</em>. &nbsp;For example, we could ask students to explain&nbsp;h<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ow does Chapter Two&nbsp;of&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Charlotte's Web</span>&nbsp;address the theme of friendship - specifically, the friendship of Wilbur and Fern&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">how does Act 3, Scene 1 of&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Romeo and Juliet&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;address the theme of gender and&nbsp;</em><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">masculinity</em>. &nbsp;Good questions such as these could serve as the instructional focus as well as formative assessments for individual lessons taught as part of a literary analysis or genre study.</div></div><div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Asking good questions about central ideas and themes in this format also emulates how these questions are phrased on standardized&nbsp;assessments. &nbsp;They also educate students how to recognize&nbsp;the specific details and realize the logical inferences made within a text that strengthen and support the central idea and theme - which is the essential skill students must develop and demonstrate.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To develop and deliver instruction using these good questions, take the following steps:</div><ol style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 27px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 35px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Identify what is the central idea or theme of the text being read and reviewed in class. &nbsp;Look at what supplemental study guides such as&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cliffsnotes.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #8c68cb; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">CliffsNotes</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sparknotes.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #8c68cb; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Spark Notes</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="http://www.shmoop.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #8c68cb; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Shmoop</a>&nbsp;identify as the central ideas and themes. &nbsp;(Trust me - if you don't look at and use these resources, your students will.) &nbsp;Challenge yourself to come up with your own impression or interpretation of what you think the central idea or theme is.</li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Phrase your good question to ask&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How does [the text being read and reviewed in class] address the following themes?&nbsp;</em>and list the themes. &nbsp;You can have this question serve as the instructional focus and serve as the summative assessment for a literary analysis or genre study or a text.</li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For each part&nbsp;of the text such as a passage or a chapter, choose one of the themes that part addresses one of the ideas or themes listed. &nbsp;Engage the students in a whole class or small group conversation about the broad or global&nbsp;idea or theme. &nbsp;Have them research&nbsp;the formal definition, investigate how the idea or theme is interpreted &nbsp;in different aspects of life, and to consider their own perception or philosophy on the issue or topic. &nbsp;Then, once the class has a clear and comprehensive understanding of the broad and global issue, ask the students to examine and explain&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">how does [the part of the text] address [the idea or theme being defined and discussed]</em>?</li><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Provide students the opportunity to develop, demonstrate, and differentiate their talent and thinking by asking them a good affective question that asks&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what do you think is the central idea or primary theme of [the text being read and reviewed]? &nbsp;</em>You could have them choose from one or more of the ideas and themes&nbsp;provided or come up with their own impression and interpretation they must defend, explain, justify, and support by citing specific evidence and making logical inferences from the text. &nbsp;You could also further challenge students by prompting them to argue&nbsp;<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">which central idea or theme do you believe is not addressed clearly in [the text being read and reviewed].</em></li></ol></div></ul><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">or theme&nbsp;</em>of a text is half the battle. &nbsp;Students must also be able to analyze and explain how the central idea and theme develops by citing specific details and making logical inferences. &nbsp;Students must also develop deeper understanding and awareness of the broad and global issues and topics central ideas and themes of texts address. &nbsp;By posing good questions about central idea and theme in this format, students will not only engaged to demonstrate and communicate deeper knowledge and thinking about the text and topics they are reading and reviewing but also develop extensive understanding&nbsp;and awareness about how these ideas and themes extend beyond the the text.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Now THAT'S a Good Question! How to Promote Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning</span>&nbsp;</em>will be published by ASCD in July 2016. &nbsp;For more information, please visit<a href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #8c68cb; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</strong></div><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 35px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div><ol style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 27px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 35px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div></ol></div></ul></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-41072641231796635372016-03-09T18:16:00.000-08:002016-03-09T18:16:47.050-08:00The Power of You: How to Personalize Standards-Based Learning<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Why is it that we&nbsp;remember the foundational&nbsp;literacy and mathematics concepts and procedures we learned in grades K-3 so well?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Is it because these concepts and procedures are so easy and simple? &nbsp;Perhaps they are now considering all the skills and stuff we have learned since our time in the primary grades. &nbsp;However, when we were kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders, reading and writing text and performing the four&nbsp;operations of arithmetic were&nbsp;all difficult and complex.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">So why is it those lessons and teachings have resounded with us throughout our lives? &nbsp;Could it possibly be that it's because our K-3 teachers did not focus on&nbsp;demonstrating and communicating&nbsp;the concept, the operation, or procedure they were teaching but instead prompted and encouraged us to show and tell&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;with what we were learning?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Do we expect&nbsp;them to demonstrate and communicate deeper knowledge, understanding, and awareness of specific details, elements, and terminology and how concepts and procedures can be used to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, and analyze texts and topics in-depth and in detail?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Do we expect them to show and tell how they have processed the ideas and information they have acquired and gathered into extensive&nbsp;knowledge and thinking they can transfer and use in different academic and real world contexts insightfully and in their own unique way?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">When we ask them questions that refer to students in the second person -&nbsp;<em>what do&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;believe, feel, or think; how could or would&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>;&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>what can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;design, develop, or do</em>, we are asking students to think critically and creatively how they personally can express and share the metacognitive knowledge they have acquired and developed in-depth, in detail, insightfully, and in their own unique way.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">That's the power of&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;in teaching and learning. &nbsp;It personalizes&nbsp;educational experiences by focusing on how each individual&nbsp;student perceives, processes, and presents the ideas information they have acquired and developed into deeper self-knowledge, understanding, and awareness. &nbsp; It fosters and promotes differentiation by&nbsp;permitting students to demonstrate&nbsp;and communicate&nbsp;the depth and extent of their learning in their own unique way. &nbsp;&nbsp;It also supports talent development by having students show and tell&nbsp;<em>what can they -- or&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;-- create, design, develop, do, invent, plan, produce, or write</em>&nbsp;using their innate strengths and skills.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Interestingly, however, as children progress through their K-12 education,&nbsp;teaching and learning becomes more conceptual and procedural than personal. &nbsp;It becomes&nbsp;more important and vital -- or&nbsp;<em>essential</em>&nbsp;-- for students to demonstrate and communicate their deeper knowledge and thinking about&nbsp;<em>how and why</em>&nbsp;concepts and procedures can be used to attain and explain answers, outcomes, results, and solutions. &nbsp;At the same time, we want to challenge and engage our students to demonstrate and communicate their learning authentically through by differentiating instruction and through project-based learning.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">So how can we accomplish this? &nbsp;We can emulate what K-3 teachers do so well --ask our students&nbsp;<em>what can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;design, develop, and do&nbsp;</em>with what they (or&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>you</em></span>)&nbsp;are learning.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAUAAAAAJGMwZTM1MGMyLTExMDctNDA2OC1iYTRjLTM2MDU1NzAyNWJmNw.png" height="94" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAUAAAAAJGMwZTM1MGMyLTExMDctNDA2OC1iYTRjLTM2MDU1NzAyNWJmNw.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">We can create these good questions that personalize learning using the cognitive rigor question stems associated with the cognitive category&nbsp;<em>to create&nbsp;</em>that lies at the top of the cognitive process dimension of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. &nbsp; To do this, replace the cognitive action of the performance objective of academic standards or tasks with one of stems. &nbsp;Consider how the instructional focus of these academic standards shift from demonstrating and communicating conceptual and procedural knowledge to self-knowledge and metacognition.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><em>You are teaching a unit on performing operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths. &nbsp;Your students are expected to do the following:</em></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em>Fluently multiply multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm. (<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/5/NBT/B/5/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/5/NBT/B/5/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.NBT.B.5</a>)</em></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em>Find whole-number quotients of whole numbers with up to four-digit dividends and two-digit divisors, using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models. (<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/5/NBT/B/6/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/5/NBT/B/6/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.NBT.B.6</a>)</em></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em>Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used. (<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/5/NBT/B/7/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/5/NBT/B/7/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.NBT.B.7</a>)</em></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">To&nbsp;challenge and engage students to demonstrate and communicate conceptual knowledge, students should be asked the following questions:</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How can multiplication be used to find the product of multi-digit numbers?</em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How can division be used to find whole-number quotients of whole numbers with up to four-digit dividends and two-digit divisors?&nbsp;</em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">&nbsp;<strong><em>How can&nbsp;whole-number quotients of whole numbers with up to four-digit dividends and two-digit divisors be found using the following?</em></strong></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>strategies based on place value</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>the properties of operations</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>the relationship between multiplication and division</em></strong></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">To&nbsp;challenge and engage students to demonstrate and communicate procedural&nbsp;knowledge, students should be asked the following questions:</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How can the standard algorithm be used to multiply multi-digit numbers?</em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How can&nbsp;decimals to hundredths to be added / subtracted / multiplied / divided using the following:</em></strong></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>concrete models or drawings</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>strategies based on place value</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>properties of operations</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>the relationship between addition and subtraction</em></strong></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">To challenge and engage students to demonstrate and communicate metacognitive or self-knowledge and awareness, they should be asked the following questions:</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;fluently multiply multi-digit numbers using the standard algorithm?</em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;find whole-number quotients of whole numbers with up to four-digit dividends and two-digit divisors using the following?</em></strong></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>strategies based on place value</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>the properties of operations</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>the relationship between multiplication and division</em></strong></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;add / subtract / multiply / divide &nbsp;decimals using the following:</em></strong></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>concrete models or drawings</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>strategies based on place value</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>properties of operations</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>the relationship between addition and subtraction</em></strong></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Notice how simply including the pronoun&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;completely shifts&nbsp;the instructional focus of the lesson or unit. &nbsp;The emphasis is not demonstrating and communicating&nbsp;<em>how and why mathematical concepts and procedures can be used&nbsp;</em>to attain and explain answers, outcomes, results, and solutions. &nbsp;It prompts and encourages students to show and tell their self-knowledge, understanding, and awareness&nbsp;<em>how can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;use mathematical concepts</em>&nbsp;<em>and procedures</em>&nbsp;in a different&nbsp;academic and real world contexts.&nbsp; The problems presented by the text or the teacher will serve as the evidence and examples&nbsp;students will need to strengthen and support their responses.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Also notice there are other performance objectives included in these standards that prompt and encourage students&nbsp;<em>to illustrate, explain,&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>relate --&nbsp;</em>all cognitive actions that&nbsp;expect students to express and share the depth of their learning in their own unique way. &nbsp;We can rephrase these performance objectives that will promote&nbsp;differentiation and individualization by asking the following good questions:</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;illustrate explain calculations by using the following?</em></strong></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>equations</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>rectangular arrays</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>area models</em></strong></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;relate</em></strong><strong>&nbsp;the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used?</strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Again, these good questions prompt and encourage students to think critically and creatively about&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>the math being taught and learned.&nbsp; They&nbsp;can&nbsp;also serve as driving questions that challenge and engage students to demonstrate and communicate the deeper and extensive knowledge they have acquired and developed&nbsp;through a project-based learning experience. &nbsp;The graphic below includes good question stems that can be used to foster and promote project-based learning.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAViAAAAJGFkMTkyMmEyLTU5ZmEtNGFmZi1iM2E1LWYxYTNhNTg5Y2RhMw.png" height="64" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAViAAAAJGFkMTkyMmEyLTU5ZmEtNGFmZi1iM2E1LWYxYTNhNTg5Y2RhMw.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="622" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">In English language arts,&nbsp;the writing standards personalizes learning by prompting and encouraging students &nbsp;to demonstrate and communicate what their have learned through oral, written, creative, or technical expression. &nbsp;They also challenge and engage students to express and share the depth and extent of their knowledge and thinking through specific types of text. &nbsp;To challenge and engage students to express and share their knowledge and thinking in a particular form of text, we can use the following question stems:</div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em><b>What kind of original argument or claim can&nbsp;</b><span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>you</b></span><b>&nbsp;write and defend or refute...?</b></em></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em><b>What kind of original informative / explanatory text can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;write and present...?</b></em></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em><b>What kind of original narrative can&nbsp;</b><span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>you</b></span><b>&nbsp;write and share...?</b></em></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em><b>What kind of research can&nbsp;</b><span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>you</b></span><b>&nbsp;conduct and present...?</b></em></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">These are the question stems that will allow us to transform college and career ready&nbsp;writing standards into driving questions that encourage students to demonstrate and communicate their knowledge and thinking about texts and topics&nbsp;using oral, written, creative, or technical expression. &nbsp;What follows these stems are the key details and ideas they are examining and exploring in the texts they are reading. &nbsp;For example, in a novel study about a dystopian science fiction novel such as&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">The Giver</span>&nbsp;by Lois Lowry or&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Fahrenheit 451</span>&nbsp;by Ray Bradbury, we could pose the following good questions:</div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>What kind of argument could you write and present that defends or refutes whether the world is heading toward the future as described by Lois Lowry / Ray Bradbury?</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>What kind of informational / explanatory text can you write and present that explains how&nbsp;dystopian science fiction serves as a lesson and warning about the past, present, and future?</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>What kind of original narrative can you write and share that incorporates the motifs, styles, and themes of dystopian science fiction and also reflects your thoughts&nbsp;about the future of mankind?</em></strong></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><em>What kind of research can you conduct and present that explains the influence science fiction and science have on each other and the impact scientists and science fiction authors have on each other's works?</em></strong></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Notice how these good questions&nbsp;address a variety of academic skills and stuff (I define "stuff" as the content&nbsp;- which is exactly how&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">A Nation at Risk</span>&nbsp;defines&nbsp;the curriculum&nbsp;we are teaching students). &nbsp;The students are expected to demonstrate and communicate conceptual knowledge&nbsp;<em>what is the purpose of specific texts and&nbsp;</em><em>how they&nbsp;are written</em>. &nbsp; They are also expected to think deeply and express and share deeper understanding of the meaning and reasoning of texts and topics. &nbsp;Most importantly, they show and tell what they have personally learned by&nbsp;producing a work that reflects and represents the depth and extent of their knowledge and thinking - which is truly what we want students to demonstrate and communicate.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">The&nbsp;question stems&nbsp;<em>what can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;design, develop, and do&nbsp;</em>can also be utilized to engage students in S.T.E.M. learning experiences that promote scientific inquiry and engineering design. &nbsp;Consider how the following good questions can serve as driving questions for S.T.E.M. educational experiences:</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How can you develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death? (NGSS-3-LS1-1)</em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How could&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;construct and present an&nbsp;argument that some animals form groups that help members survive? (NGSS-3-LS2-1)</em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How could you a</em>pply<em>&nbsp;scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another? (NGSS-4-PS3-4)</em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How could&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen? (NGSS-4-PS4-2)</em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How could&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen? (NGSS-5-PS1-1)</em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How could&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun? (NGSS-5-PS3-1)</em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em>How could&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact? (NGSS-5-ESS2-1)</em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Notice how these good questions are derived directly from the Next Generation Science Standards, which are written to foster and promote personalized learning through scientific inquiry and engineering design. &nbsp;They turn students into innovators and inventors who demonstrate and communicate and&nbsp;<em>how can you use&nbsp;</em>the scientific concepts and principles being taught and learned to address or explain a phenomena.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Referring to&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;in good questions also challenges and engages us educators and our students to delve into the&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vFUWWOPnK4c/VPhd7c3cOJI/AAAAAAAADKI/i5F7mkg1fus/s1600/Affective%2BDomain-%2BBloom's%2Bet.%2Bal.%2BTaxonomy%2Bof%2BEducational%2BObjectives.jpg" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vFUWWOPnK4c/VPhd7c3cOJI/AAAAAAAADKI/i5F7mkg1fus/s1600/Affective%2BDomain-%2BBloom's%2Bet.%2Bal.%2BTaxonomy%2Bof%2BEducational%2BObjectives.jpg" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Affective Domain of Bloom's Taxonomy</a>. &nbsp;The Affective Domain deals with how people handle and perceive what they are learning emotionally rather than cognitively. &nbsp;The categories within this taxonomy address individuals' &nbsp;feelings, values&nbsp;appreciation, enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes&nbsp;about learning. &nbsp;While cognitive rigor and college and career ready standards generally do not delve into these areas, we educators can expand upon and extend students experiences by asking good questions that begin with the question stems listed below.<em>. &nbsp;</em></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><em><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAdqAAAAJGRlMzAwNGEyLTE5M2EtNGMxNi1hZGE4LTdhZDU3ZDI0YTc4Yg.png" height="60" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAdqAAAAJGRlMzAwNGEyLTE5M2EtNGMxNi1hZGE4LTdhZDU3ZDI0YTc4Yg.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /></em></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">Teaching and learning for cognitive rigor - especially at the higher levels - should&nbsp;not only be about demonstrating higher order thinking and communicating depth of knowledge about concepts, procedures, texts, and topics. &nbsp;It should also extend learning by making it personal, prompting and encouraging students to think deeply and express and share the depth of their knowledge and thinking insightfully and in their own unique way. &nbsp;To accomplish this, instead of asking just&nbsp;<em>who, what, where, when, how&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>why,&nbsp;</em>do what the K-3 teachers do so well - ask&nbsp;<em>what can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;design, develop, or do;&nbsp;what do you believe, feel, or think</em>; or&nbsp;<em>how could or would&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>. &nbsp;</em>Then watch and marvel not only how deeply students learn but how critically and creatively they show and tell what they have learned.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;">&nbsp;<strong><em>Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book <u>Now THAT'S a Good Question! How to Promote Cognitive Rigor with Good Questions</u>&nbsp;</em>will be published by ASCD in 2016. &nbsp;For more information, please visit&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><br /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><br /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><br /></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-38707570534657639612016-02-25T17:34:00.000-08:002016-02-25T17:34:16.311-08:00High-Stakes Testing: A Bad Way to Play Ball - and Evaluate Students and Teachers<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Someone once said, "Baseball is an island of activity among a sea of statistics."</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The same could also be said about education.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Think about it. &nbsp;The classroom is the "field" where the "game" - or instruction&nbsp;and assessment&nbsp;- takes place. &nbsp; The classroom is the "team" that's funded and supported by the school or district - or "organization. &nbsp;The students are the "players" and the teacher is the "manager" who leads the team to have a successful "season" or year. &nbsp;</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, unlike baseball - or any sport - the value or worth of a player or team is not defined or judged by their performance in one game during a long season.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are 162 games in a baseball season. &nbsp;For 161 games, that baseball player has hit the ball every time they have stepped up to the plate. &nbsp;They either get on base, hit someone else home, belt the ball out of the park, or at least get a piece of the ball when it's thrown at them.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, there's one game where the player encounters a pitcher whom he&nbsp;struggles to hit off, and when he does, he grounds out, pops out, or cannot hit his teammates home. &nbsp;Should&nbsp;that player be labeled as&nbsp;"falling far below"&nbsp;based upon that one game? &nbsp;Should the manager be&nbsp;labeled&nbsp;"unqualified" because that player could not get on base, knock it out of the park, or send&nbsp;one of his teammates home? &nbsp;Should&nbsp;the team be labeled "underperforming" based upon the results of that&nbsp;one, single&nbsp;game?</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He would be if the player was a student, the game was the standardized assessment he was taking, and the pitches were the questions asked on that&nbsp;one test given one out of the 180 days of the school year. &nbsp;Everything rides on that one game! &nbsp;That one game will truly mark and measure whether the coach and the players are skilled players. &nbsp;It doesn't matter how you the teacher / coach or your class / team performed all season long. &nbsp;This one day means EVERYTHING!!!</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Isn't that ridiculous?</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, this is the reality of education. &nbsp;It does not matter how our students have been performing or the growth they made over the course of the school year / season - at least, not to the organizations that rate our performance and give us that letter grade or performance designation.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how can we counter these single-day high stake tests our students take quarterly or annually?</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What if we turned the performance objectives of academic standards into good questions they can address and base the depth of their knowledge and understanding on how correctly, clearly, comprehensively, and even creatively they respond?&nbsp;</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What if instead of having the question, problem, or task present to the student drive and determine whether students know, understand, can use the concepts and procedures they are learning we use them as textual evidence and examples to support their responses?</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me explain.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Typically, we instruct and assess student learning by presenting students with assignments and tests that look like this:</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAYNAAAAJGJiN2FiN2Y5LTJiNzUtNGEyMi1hNDk3LWJhNmU1ZDQ5ZGMwNA.png" height="481" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAYNAAAAJGJiN2FiN2Y5LTJiNzUtNGEyMi1hNDk3LWJhNmU1ZDQ5ZGMwNA.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These questions, problems, and tasks and how well the students answer them serve as the criteria for&nbsp;whether&nbsp;students can know and understand&nbsp;place value. &nbsp;If they can answer these questions correctly, then they must know their stuff, right?</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If that's the case, then why isn't that knowledge and understanding transferring to the problems they are presented on their formative benchmark or summative assessments? &nbsp;If they answered the question incorrectly, is that they do not truly know or understand the concept and procedures for determining place value or were they given a "bad question" that was possibly unclear or worded poorly?</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We cannot rely on the questions, problems, and tasks provided by a textbook or a test to serve as the determinant for learning. &nbsp;They are examples and evidence - or support - that proves students know, understand, can use, and think deeply about the content, concepts, and procedures they are learning. &nbsp;However, the true measure of depth of knowledge and understanding is whether students can demonstrate AND communicate what they have learned. &nbsp;Questions, problems, and tasks in a textbook or on a text serve as the context in which students can transfer and use what they have learned, and that varies as indicated by Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge Model.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAO1AAAAJDcxNWM3YTc2LTRkN2YtNDc2NC1hMmM1LWEyN2QxNmFjN2I3Yw.png" height="481" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAO1AAAAJDcxNWM3YTc2LTRkN2YtNDc2NC1hMmM1LWEyN2QxNmFjN2I3Yw.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how can we truly prove our students know and understand what they are learning deeply? &nbsp;We need to shift the focus from the questions, problems, and tasks they are assigned to the addressing and responding to a good question&nbsp;that has been rephrased from&nbsp;the performance objective.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look at the sample worksheet in this blog. &nbsp;The performance objectives want the students to&nbsp;<em>solve</em>,&nbsp;<em>find the products</em>, and&nbsp;<em>explain how you decided the number of zeros for the products of (a), (b), and (c)</em>. &nbsp;They want students to follow the Nike slogan and&nbsp;<em>Just do it! &nbsp;</em>In fact, the true graphic representation of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy should look like this.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAVdAAAAJDc3OTQ1MmE5LTU0OTUtNGI2NC1hZjk0LWUzODc5NWIxNDUxOQ.png" height="481" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAVdAAAAJDc3OTQ1MmE5LTU0OTUtNGI2NC1hZjk0LWUzODc5NWIxNDUxOQ.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Out of all those performance objectives, only the cognitive action&nbsp;<em>explain&nbsp;</em>directs students to communicate their learning. &nbsp;However, what about the other problems? &nbsp;Why are they not&nbsp;being challenged not only demonstrate but also communicate&nbsp;<em>how and why&nbsp;</em>that they attained their answers?</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What if we rephrased those performance objectives into good questions that ask students to demonstrate and communicate this:</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAXqAAAAJGYxMjgxNWVmLWM1NmItNGE5OS05MDdjLTczODU1MjdhYzNmMw.png" height="477" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAXqAAAAJGYxMjgxNWVmLWM1NmItNGE5OS05MDdjLTczODU1MjdhYzNmMw.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">&nbsp;Look at how the instructional focus shifts from solving, finding the product, and explaining to demonstrating and communicating -- or showing and telling -- how the concepts of place value understanding explains the outcome of these problems. &nbsp;The problems -- or context in which students will demonstrate their learning -- remain the same. &nbsp;However, the complexity of the assignment deepens when the performance objectives become good questions that ask students to think deeply and express and share&nbsp;<em>how, what impact,&nbsp;</em>and even&nbsp;<em>what would happen</em>.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's the true mark and measure of deep learning - not just demonstrate whether they can answer questions correctly but also communicate&nbsp;<em>how and why&nbsp;</em>and consider&nbsp;<em>what else can be done&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>how else can concepts and procedures be used</em>. &nbsp;That's also the transferrable knowledge we want students to develop so they can answer any question, address any problem, accomplish any task, or analyze any text or topic presented to them.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can also use the responses to these questions to counter the results of assessments. &nbsp;We can challenge the question and contest that question was a "bad question" and truly does not reflect or represent the student's learning. &nbsp;We should look at the data reports that document how many students answered that question correctly. &nbsp;We can also prove that student truly knows, understands, and can transfer and use the content, concept, or procedure by having them respond to the good question we rephrase from the performance objective and use different problems they solve correctly as textual evidence to support their responses. &nbsp;That is&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>authentic assessment</strong>&nbsp;</span>- the ability to demonstrate and communicate knowledge, thinking, and how it can be transferred and used in different contexts!</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how can we create these good questions from performance objectives that will serve as authentic assessments? &nbsp;We need to change the introductory statement from&nbsp;<em>The student will&nbsp;</em>... to&nbsp;<em>Show and tell&nbsp;</em>... &nbsp;We then need to replace the cognitive action of the performance objective with a question them that prompts students to understand, analyze, and evaluate&nbsp;<em>how;&nbsp;</em><em>why;&nbsp;</em><em>what is the cause and effect; what is the impact or influenc</em>e; or&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>what is the reason, relationship, or result</em>. &nbsp;Then we paraphrase or transcribe the context in which the student must demonstrate and communicate their learning. &nbsp;For example instead of saying,&nbsp;<em>The student will recognize that in a multi-digit whole number, a digit in one place represents ten times what it represents in the place to its right.</em>(<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/4/NBT/A/1/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/4/NBT/A/1/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NBT.A.1</a>), rephrase the objective to state,&nbsp;<em>Show and tell&nbsp;how and why does a digit in one place in a multi-digit number represents ten times what it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 what it represents to its place to the left. &nbsp;</em>Take away the&nbsp;<em>show and tell&nbsp;</em>and you have this good question students will be challenged to address and respond:</span></div><div class="center" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; text-align: center;"><strong><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How and why does a digit in one place in a multi-digit number represents ten times what it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 what it represents to its place to the left</span></em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's the question students must address, and the problems presented to them will serve as the textual evidence to support their response. &nbsp;We can even give them the answers to the problems and ask them to think strategically about&nbsp;<em>why is that the answer</em>.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it comes to cognitive rigor, we want students to demonstrate higher order thinking and communicate depth of knowledge of what they are learning. &nbsp;One question, problem, or task is not a true measure of higher and deeper thinking. &nbsp;We need students to explain&nbsp;in detail, in-depth, insightfully, and in their own unique way&nbsp;<em>how and why&nbsp;</em>concepts and procedures can be applied to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, and analyze tasks. &nbsp;We also want them to think critically and creatively about&nbsp;<em>what else&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>how else&nbsp;</em>they can transfer&nbsp; and use what they are learning in different contexts. &nbsp;</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To go back to the baseball analogy, we want them to demonstrate and communicate how, why, and what else can they do to hit any pitch thrown to them. &nbsp;That's the mark and measure or authentic learning and performance - be it on the field or in the classroom.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">&nbsp;<strong><em>Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book Now THAT'S a Good Question! Questions for Cognitive Rigor&nbsp;</em>will be published by ASCD in 2016. &nbsp;For more information, please visit&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</strong></span></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-63854009987103709412016-02-16T18:27:00.000-08:002016-02-16T18:36:49.586-08:00The A's of Addressing and Responding to Good Questions<div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I conduct my professional development on developing good questions that address the cognitive rigor of college and career readiness, I am always asked, "How should students answer these questions?"</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My answer to this question is, "It depends on the question and the student."</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Questions for assessing learning&nbsp;are meant to be answered, and they are generally evaluated as correct or incorrect based upon the accuracy of the response. &nbsp;Questions that set the instructional focus of a lesson or unit are meant to be addressed, and how deeply and extensively the student responds depends upon not only the intent and purpose of the question but also the interest of the student.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good questions that promote cognitive rigor are assessed and evaluated based upon the following criteria:</span></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Accuracy:&nbsp;</strong>Is the response correct or incorrect (i.e. Does&nbsp;the student provide a response that is proven to be absolute, defensible, or irrefutable?).</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Acceptability:</strong>&nbsp;Does the response meet certain or specific criteria&nbsp;for addressing the question (i. e. Does the student meet or exceed the expectations for addressing to the question or do they respond to the question incompletely or unacceptably)? &nbsp;</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Appropriateness:&nbsp;</strong>Does the response address the subject or topic&nbsp;in-depth and in detail (i.e.. Does the student support the response with examples, explanations, and evidence or does it just make a blanket statement or provide&nbsp;the result without explaining&nbsp;<em>how&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>why</em>)?</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Authenticity:</strong>&nbsp;Does the response reflect and represent the depth and extent of the student's learning&nbsp;&nbsp;(i.e. Does the student express and share the depth and extent of their knowledge and thinking insightfully and in their own unique way or do they simply repeat or restate the information they have acquired and gathered as it's presented or provided?)</span></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">&nbsp;These are the criteria for how responses to good questions should be assessed and&nbsp;evaluated -- qualitatively rather than quantitatively. &nbsp;How&nbsp;<em>good&nbsp;</em>a response is depends upon how deeply or how extensively a student addresses the subject or topic of a question. &nbsp; Consider the following scenario in which students are expected to determine how the novel&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">The Outsiders</span>&nbsp;and its characters address the theme of stereotyping.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are teaching a book study on&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">The Outsiders</span>&nbsp;by S.E. Hinton. &nbsp;Your students will demonstrate and communicate the following:</span></em></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. (<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/2/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/2/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.2</a>)</span></em></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. (<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/3/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/3/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3</a>)</span></em></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. (<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/5/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/5/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.5</a>)</span></em></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence. (<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/8/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/8/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.8</a>)</span></em></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. (<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/W/2/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/W/2/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2</a>)</span></em></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your students will address and respond to the following good question:</span></em></div><div class="center" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>How do each of the characters in&nbsp;</strong><strong>The Outsiders</strong><strong>&nbsp;reflect</strong><strong>, reject, and&nbsp;</strong><strong>respond&nbsp;</strong><strong>to the social stereotypes of their community and culture?</strong></span></div><div class="left" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is&nbsp;the topical essential question of this&nbsp;book study that sets the instructional focus and serves as the formative and summative assessment. &nbsp;That one question is so rigorous -- or&nbsp;<em>good&nbsp;</em>--&nbsp;that it addresses all the performance objectives of these college and career ready standards. &nbsp;It also not only engages but also encourages students to delve deeper into the central ideas and themes of this novel. &nbsp;How&nbsp;<em>good&nbsp;</em>a student's response to this question depends on the following:&nbsp;</span></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did the students respond to the question accurately by defining what is a social stereotype,&nbsp;distinguishing between the different social stereotypes in&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">The Outsiders</span>, and describing how the different characters reflected, rejected, and responded to these social stereotypes?</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did the students respond to the question acceptably by providing specific examples from the text and explaining how and why these examples serve as evidentiary support for their response?</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did the students respond appropriately&nbsp;by demonstrating and communicating&nbsp;how&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">The Outsiders</span>&nbsp;and its characters address the social stereotypes of their community and culture&nbsp;clearly and comprehensively as well as correctly?</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did the students respond authentically by expressing and sharing their own ideas, opinions, and perspectives on how the novel&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">The Outsiders</span>&nbsp;and the characters reflect, reject, and respond to&nbsp;the social stereotypes of their community and culture insightfully and in their own unique way?</span></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These guiding questions assess and evaluate students' responses based upon its quality. It’s also not a simple question students can answer with a&nbsp;<em>yes or no&nbsp;</em>or even one or two sentences. Good students expect students to express themselves in-depth, in detail, and insightfully. They also require students to address and respond using some form of oral, written, creative, or technical expression.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With mathematics, the quality of the response is based not only on whether they can solve the problem correctly but explain&nbsp;<em>how and why&nbsp;</em>they used the concepts and procedures they are learning clearly, comprehensively, and even creatively. &nbsp;Consider the following scenario&nbsp;in which students are learning about equivalent fractions.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are teaching a unit on fraction equivalence and&nbsp;ordering. &nbsp;Your students are expected to demonstrate and communicate the following:</span></em></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Explain why a fraction a/b is equivalent to a fraction (n × a)/(n × b) by using visual fraction models, with attention to how the number and size of the parts differ even though the two fractions themselves are the same size. Use this principle to recognize and generate equivalent fractions. (<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/4/NF/A/1/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/4/NF/A/1/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NF.A.1</a>)</span></em></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Compare two fractions with different numerators and different denominators, e.g., by creating common denominators or numerators, or by comparing to a benchmark fraction such as 1/2. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with symbols &gt;, =, or &lt;, and justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model. (<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/4/NF/A/2/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/4/NF/A/2/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NF.A.2</a>)</span></em></li></ul><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your students will address and respond to the following good question:</span></em></div><div class="center" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px; text-align: center;"><strong><em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How can&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span>&nbsp;recognize, generate, and explain why fractions are equivalent?</span></em></strong></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The quality of the student's response to this question depends on the following:&nbsp;</span></div><ul style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does the student respond to the question accurately by defining what is an equivalent fraction and applying the concept and procedures to make and match the fractions presented to them be equivalent?</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does the student respond to the question acceptably by completing all the problems and showing their work?</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does the student respond appropriately&nbsp;by providing the answer and explaining why each of the fractions they make and match are equivalent and how they determined they were equivalent?</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does the student respond authentically by showing and telling how they personally recognized and generated the equivalent fractions verbally in their own words or visually using fraction models?</span></li></ul><div class="left" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The key to promoting cognitive rigor through classroom questioning is communication. Knowing&nbsp;<em>what is the correct answer&nbsp;</em>and showing&nbsp;<em>how can the answer be attained correctly&nbsp;</em>is half the battle. Students should also be expected to tell&nbsp;<em>why this is the answer&nbsp;</em>and think deeply about&nbsp;<em>how could&nbsp;</em>share their knowledge and understanding in detail, in-depth, insightfully, and in their own unique way.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some ways to encourage students to address and respond to good questions:</span></div><ol style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 35px; padding-right: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Show and tell.&nbsp;</strong>Set the expectations right from the beginning that students will be required to demonstrate and communicate -- or show and tell -- what they are learning. Let them know that knowing&nbsp;<em>what is the answer&nbsp;</em>and showing&nbsp;<em>how can concepts and procedures be used&nbsp;</em>is half the battle. Students must also be able to tell&nbsp;<em>why is this the answer&nbsp;</em>and think deeply about&nbsp;<em>how else can concepts and procedures be used.&nbsp;</em>That’s what will be expected of them and also how their learning will be assessed and evaluated.</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Discourage one-word or one-sentence responses.</strong>&nbsp;Identifying&nbsp;<em>what is the Earth&nbsp;</em>as a planet or&nbsp;<em>who is Edgar Allan Poe&nbsp;</em>as an author who wrote Gothic tales during the 1800s should not be considered acceptable or appropriate responses. Yes, these responses are accurate, but going into details and depth would be more acceptable and appropriate expressions of deep knowledge. &nbsp;Encourage students to describe and explain further. Have them use examples from the text as explanations and evidentiary support<strong>. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Ask, “What do you mean?”&nbsp;</strong>Every time a student gives an answer in the form of a simple statement, ask them, “What do you mean?” This prompts them to explain&nbsp;<em>why is this the answer&nbsp;</em>and elaborate upon&nbsp;<em>how was the answer attained</em>. It also challenges them to defend and justify their responses and even question their own thinking and reasoning. For example, if you ask&nbsp;<em>what is the relationship between fractions and division&nbsp;</em>and the student responds,&nbsp;<em>A fraction is a way to divide numbers,&nbsp;</em>asking&nbsp;<em>what do you mean&nbsp;</em>prompts the student not only to explain their response but also think about how they can phrase their response clearly, correctly, and comprehensively.&nbsp;&nbsp; You can also ask&nbsp;<em>how do you know&nbsp;</em>to prompt students to justify their knowledge.</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Paraphrase or transcribe information.</strong>&nbsp;Students should also not be permitted to recite, repeat, or restate information explicitly as presented by the text or teacher. They should paraphrase or transcribe the information and cite or credit the source from where they obtained the information. For example, students should define&nbsp;<em>what is volume&nbsp;</em>or describe&nbsp;<em>where and when did World War II take place</em>&nbsp;in their own words instead of just simply copying what the text says.&nbsp;&nbsp; Having students explain in their own words “encourages a deeper processing of ideas, which can lead to a better understanding of the material” -- especially if the students write the information longhand (Mueller &amp; Oppenheimer, 2014).</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Teach like an expert.&nbsp;</strong>Teachers generally teach students what is the answer by presenting the question or problem and showing and telling students how to use concepts and procedures to answer the question correctly. Experts, however, pose the question, present their answer, explain how and why they achieved their outcome or result, and show how it can be applied in different contexts. That’s the deep knowledge students need to learn -- how to transfer and use knowledge and thinking. To do this, present students the question or problem with its answer or solution and ask them to examine&nbsp;<em>how&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>why</em>. You can even show them visually the procedures and prompt them to explain&nbsp;<em>how is the concept and procedure used.&nbsp;</em>Then, once they provide an explanation that is accurate, acceptable, appropriate, and authentic, challenge them to investigate and inquire&nbsp;<em>how else can the concept and procedure be used&nbsp;</em>in a different context.</span></li><li style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Have students choose their grade.&nbsp;</strong>Unfortunately, some students may not go into the detail and depth they should with the responses. They might also feel as if answering the question correctly or the information they provide is “good enough”.&nbsp;&nbsp; While we want our students to go deeper with their responses, we also don’t want to discourage them or make them feel defensive about their responses. Here’s a dialogue I use with students to encourage them to provide more depth and detail in their responses:</span></li></ol><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Mr. Francis</em></strong><em>: Is this your answer?</em></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Student:</em></strong><em>&nbsp;Yes.</em></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Mr. Francis:</em></strong><em>&nbsp;Is this your final answer?</em></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Student:</em></strong><em>&nbsp;Yes.</em></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Mr. Francis</em></strong><em>: Is that your A answer?</em></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Student:</em></strong><em>&nbsp;I think it is.</em></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Mr. Francis:</em></strong><em>&nbsp;Okay. Do you want an A?</em></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Student:</em></strong><em>&nbsp;Yes (Hopefully, they’ll say yes.)</em></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Mr. Francis:</em></strong><em>&nbsp;If you want an A, why don’t you look into this and tell me a little more about how you came to this response. However, that’s up to you. What you have here is accurate. However, your grade is based upon whether the response is acceptable, appropriate, and authentic.&nbsp;&nbsp; So if you want that A, why don’t you look into this or tell me how you came to this response. However, it’s up to you.</em></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notice what’s happening in this exchange. Instead of telling the student their response is not “good enough”, they are being ask to consider and reflect upon the quality of their response by asking them what they think and what their perception is. You’re validating their response as accurate but challenging and encouraging them to go further so it meets all the criteria for responding to good questions. You’re also suggesting to them what exactly they should examine and investigate further in order to improve their response. However -- and this is key -- you’re allowing the student to choose whether they want to expand upon their answer and earn that higher grade.&nbsp;&nbsp; Not only are you teaching them how to delve deeper but you’re also teaching them a life lesson about making good choices and the importance of producing quality work (and if they choose not to go further, then they need to accept the grade they earn).</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep in mind cognitive rigor is qualitative, not quantitative. Promoting cognitive rigor through classroom questioning involves asking good questions that prompt students to think deeply about how they can transfer and use what they are learning. The quality of their responses should be evaluated not only based upon whether they are accurate but also whether they truly express and share the depth of students’ learning in an acceptable, appropriate, and authentic manner.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book Now THAT'S a Good Question! Questions for Cognitive Rigor&nbsp;</em>will be published by ASCD in 2016. &nbsp;For more information, please visit&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</span></strong></div></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-84263384853903950582015-08-21T21:51:00.002-07:002015-08-21T21:51:53.862-07:00Objective: The Students Will Examine and Explain<div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>The learner will demonstrate</em>&nbsp;-- or&nbsp;<em>TLWD</em>.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's the statement and acronym typically used to clarify and create learning goals. &nbsp; This introductory statement was originally used with Bloom's Taxonomy to identify clearly in which cognitive category students were expected to demonstrate their learning - e.g.&nbsp;<em>The learner will demonstrate knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis</em>, or&nbsp;<em>evaluation</em>. &nbsp;When Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) revised Bloom's Taxonomy by renaming the cognitive categories from noun to verbs, the introductory statement became&nbsp;<em>The student will be able to...&nbsp;</em>followed by the newly named cognitive category&nbsp;-&nbsp;<em>remember,</em>&nbsp;<em>understand, apply, analyze, evaluate,&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>create</em><em>&nbsp;</em>. &nbsp;The push for student-centered objectives written in student friendly language once again changed the introductory statement for learning goals to be more direct and personal (<em>I will...</em>) or collaborative (<em>We will...</em>). &nbsp;</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, with the instructional shift focusing on college and career readiness, it's time to once again rephrase the introductory phrase that set the learning goals for a lesson or unit. &nbsp;Why? &nbsp;Because learning is not only about demonstrating knowledge and thinking anymore. &nbsp;Students are now also expected to communicate the depth and extent of their knowledge, understanding, and awareness of what they have learned. &nbsp;In other words, learning by doing is no longer the goal. &nbsp;Now students must be able to explain&nbsp;<em>how it is done</em>, express&nbsp;<em>why it can be done</em>, and&nbsp;expound upon&nbsp;<em>what else can be done&nbsp;</em>with the concepts and content they are learning.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAVUAAAAJDk5YTE0ZGZmLTA5ZDMtNDk4Mi1hOTMzLTUwYTc1ZWYzMjUzZA.jpg" height="379" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAVUAAAAJDk5YTE0ZGZmLTA5ZDMtNDk4Mi1hOTMzLTUwYTc1ZWYzMjUzZA.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interestingly, for the most part, the college and career ready standards as they are written and presented do not foster and promote communication of knowledge and thinking. &nbsp;While there are some performance objectives that begin with cognitive verbs that are synonymous with communication, such as&nbsp;<em>define</em>,&nbsp;<em>describe</em>,<em>&nbsp;</em><em>explain</em>,&nbsp;<em>present,&nbsp;</em><em>represent</em>,&nbsp;<em>summarize,&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>write</em>,&nbsp;&nbsp;the majority of the cognitive verbs introducing the standards are more more intrinsic and cerebral than extrinsic and communicative. &nbsp;Performance objective&nbsp;direct students to&nbsp;demonstrate how they can to&nbsp;<em>analyze, apply, determine, evaluate, integrate, or interpret,&nbsp;</em>but they&nbsp;neither&nbsp;inform nor guide students how to&nbsp;express and share their analyses, applications, determinations, evaluations, integrations, or interpretations.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is why questions, not performance objectives,&nbsp;are an effective and integral means&nbsp;for demonstrating and communicating learning. &nbsp;They prompt students to think about what they are about to learn. &nbsp;They also encourage students to express and share the depth of their learning.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So where do we come up with these questions? &nbsp;We rephrase the same performance objectives of academic standards as good questions that foster communication&nbsp;of learning using oral, written, creative, or technical expression.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How can we rephrase these performance objectives into questions? &nbsp;We use the introductory statement&nbsp;<em><strong>The students will examine and explain</strong>&nbsp;</em>and convert the cognitive verb of the standard into a question stem. &nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The verb&nbsp;<strong><em>examine</em></strong>&nbsp;challenges and engages&nbsp;students to think deeply about what they are learning. &nbsp;The verb&nbsp;<strong><em>explain&nbsp;</em></strong>prompts and encourages students to express and share the depth or extent of their learning. &nbsp;These are the cognitive processes that not only address&nbsp;college and career readiness but also foster and promote cognitive rigor -- specifically, the demonstration of higher order thinking and communication of depth of knowledge. &nbsp;</span></div><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAANqAAAAJDE3ZmVjZjU1LTgxMDAtNGEwMi1hNDBkLWY4MTEyMmE2ZDhkMw.jpg" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAANqAAAAJDE3ZmVjZjU1LTgxMDAtNGEwMi1hNDBkLWY4MTEyMmE2ZDhkMw.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 30px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now look at what happens when these performance objectives are rephrased as good questions. &nbsp; They not only foster and promote demonstrating and communicating learning but also increase the cognitive rigor of the learning experience by having students think deeply and express and share the&nbsp;depth of their knowledge, understanding, and awareness of&nbsp;<em>how, why,&nbsp;</em><em>what influence,&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>how can you apply</em>.<br />cess can be made simple by using by taking the following steps:</span><br /><ol><li><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Identify the standard(s) that will be addressed.</span></span></li></ol><ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 32px;">Use the introductory statement&nbsp;</span><strong style="line-height: 32px;"><em>The students will examine and explain...</em></strong></span></li></ol><ol><li><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Convert the cognitive verb to the correlating cognitive rigor question (C.R.Q.) stem using the Bloom's Revised Taxonomy Inverted Pyramid. (See the accompanying graphic).</span></span></li></ol><ol><li><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Complete the question with the concept or content addressed in the standard.</span></span></li></ol><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HuSx_00EThM/Vdf-x50QuwI/AAAAAAAAAig/u7VQNK2qoSI/s1600/Slide18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HuSx_00EThM/Vdf-x50QuwI/AAAAAAAAAig/u7VQNK2qoSI/s640/Slide18.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These good questions not only serve as summative assessments but also set the instructional focus throughout a learning experience. &nbsp;The phrases and words are the academic vocabulary, subject-specific terminology, and specific&nbsp;details and elements students will need to recognize and understand&nbsp;<em>who, what, where,&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>when&nbsp;</em>in order to address and respond to these questions&nbsp;and meet these performance objectives with the depth and extent they expect.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAIEAAAAJDljNDc0MjRmLWMyMGMtNDY2Yy05MGI4LTU3NDg3YTEzYWNlNg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAIEAAAAJDljNDc0MjRmLWMyMGMtNDY2Yy05MGI4LTU3NDg3YTEzYWNlNg.jpg" height="480" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAIEAAAAJDljNDc0MjRmLWMyMGMtNDY2Yy05MGI4LTU3NDg3YTEzYWNlNg.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; margin-top: 30px; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="640" /></span></a></div><br /><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turning performance objectives may seem easy and simple, but is actually difficult and complex - or rather, complicated. &nbsp;It will take time and thinking to develop a good question that is so open-ended and thought-provoking that they will drive and determine the depth and extent of learning. &nbsp;However, this pro</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Use the&nbsp;formula for creating good questions from academic standards:</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The students will examine and explain&nbsp;+ C.R.Q. stem&nbsp;+ subject / topic</span></b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Watch your students demonstrate and communicate deeper learning!</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 32px;"><strong><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></em></strong><strong><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></em></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Now THAT'S a Good Question! How to Promote&nbsp;Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning&nbsp;</span></em>will be published by ASCD in Winter&nbsp;2016. For more information on this topic or how to receive professional development at your site, please visit&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #8c68cb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></strong></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-89000693190045274402015-08-10T10:04:00.005-07:002016-08-06T08:45:52.107-07:00Start the Year with Good Questions!<div><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">The summer is over, and the first day of school has come in many parts of the country. &nbsp;It's time to for all us teachers and our students to head back to the classroom for a new year and for a deeper teaching and learning experience.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">So how are you going to start and set that deeper teaching and learning experience that experience that first week?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">Let's be realistic. &nbsp;That first week of school is about getting-to-know-you. &nbsp;You are getting to know your students academically by giving them pre-tests and placement tests. You are getting to know them personally by having them share who they are or what they did this summer using some form of oral, written creative, or technical expression. Your students are also getting to know you by understanding what your expectations are and the procedures and rules in your classroom for behavior and turning in work.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">However, along with<span style="font-family: &quot;helvetica neue light&quot; , , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif;">&nbsp;on getting to know each other and going over routines, what if you asked these good questions?</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">What is the relationship between reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">What is math?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">How does science explain our world and ourselves?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">What is history and whose is it?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">Why is it important to learn both the language and culture of a foreign country or society?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">What qualifies as art?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">What is music?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">What is fitness and health?</span></li></ul></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">What if you spent that first day in class having them engage in a dialogue about what they think is the meaning or intent of&nbsp;<span style="font-family: &quot;helvetica neue light&quot; , , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;arial&quot; , sans-serif;">these academic areas and subjects they are going to learn this year? &nbsp;How could this serve as a pre-assessment for background knowledge and previous learning? &nbsp;How could their responses provide you some insight into their their opinions, perspectives, and thoughts about these academic areas?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">Instead of assigning an essay that asks who they are or what they did this summer or even completing a personal information sheet, what if you have them compose or create an academic autobiography in which they explain and express the following in a single or multi-paragraph essay:</span></div><div><ul><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">What kind of student are you?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">How strong do you think or how successful have you been in this particular academic area?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">What has been your greatest accomplishment or your fondest memory in learning this subject?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">What would encourage you to continue enjoying learning this subject or to enjoy learning this subject more than you have in the past?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">How could learning this subject continue to be or become a better experience for you?</span></li></ul></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">Think about how much information and insight you would obtain about your students! &nbsp;You will not only know and understand from where they are coming but also what kind of students they are (or perceive themselves to be) and how you could address their needs academically and even socioemotionally. &nbsp;Have them write their Language Artsography, their Mathography, their Scienceography, their Historyography, or whatever subject they are currently learning and you are currently teaching them. &nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;"><br />If you're going to give a final exam as part of your class, what if you told your students what the questions will be on the final or even have them take the exam during the first week of school? &nbsp;I learned this technique from <a href="http://www.kenblanchard.com/" target="_blank">Ken Blanchard</a>, author of the <u>One-Minute Manager</u>&nbsp;book series who would <a href="http://www.kenblanchard.com/Leading-Research/Ignite-Newsletter/May-2014" target="_blank">give his exam on the first day of class</a>. &nbsp;It not only informed my students of what would be expected of them but also set the instructional focus for the entire semester.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;verdana&quot; , sans-serif;">As you return to your classrooms this year, shift your instructional delivery and focus. &nbsp;Instead of spending that first week telling students what they need to know, understand, do, and what is expected of them, ask good questions to stimulate their thinking about what they are about to learn. &nbsp;Then introduce the subjects and topics to which they will be address and responding. &nbsp;Watch the learning environment shift from one that focuses on teaching and telling to learning through inquiry and interest.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;verdana&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;verdana&quot; , sans-serif;">Let me know how your students react and respond, and have a great first day!</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;verdana&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: &quot;verdana&quot; , sans-serif;">- E.M.F</span></div></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-157869452669592582015-07-24T07:36:00.002-07:002015-07-24T07:36:50.511-07:00Are We Teaching for Cognition or Compliance?<div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">When my daughter was in 5th Grade, she brought home a worksheet that featured&nbsp;a series of multiplication problems she had to solve using this graphic.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAMBAAAAJDMwZWMzMDI0LWFlMzQtNDliMC1hOGIxLTA4YzdmMWEwZmU5Yg.png" height="278" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAMBAAAAJDMwZWMzMDI0LWFlMzQtNDliMC1hOGIxLTA4YzdmMWEwZmU5Yg.png" style="display: block; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="372" /></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">I am an educator. &nbsp;My experience has primarily&nbsp;been in teaching English and language arts at the middle and high school level. &nbsp;However, I did a stint of middle school mathematics during my first year of teaching due to the school needing a math teacher and since I was the last hired ... well, you know how that goes. &nbsp;While I don't consider myself to be a "math person", I have become skilled and proficient in mathematics mostly out of necessity and my own frustration with the concept. &nbsp;However, I had never seen this graphic before.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">When I showed this to my&nbsp;wife, who is an elementary teacher, she informed me that this is "one of those methods Khan Academy uses". &nbsp;I went on Khan Academy's website and sure enough, there it was - the Lattice Box, the name of this foreign graphic my daughter brought home and was required to use to multiply multi-digit numbers. &nbsp;I studied how to use the method and found it to be highly confusing, which surprised me because I am a visual learner but could not figure out how the pieces of this cube fit together.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">I asked my daughter if she could just multiply the numbers using more conventional and traditional methods, and she said, "No, I have to do multiplication&nbsp;this way!"</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">I said, "Wait a minute. &nbsp;What's more important here - that you understand what is multiplication and how and why it can be used to determine amount or that you use this method?"</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">She said, "Daddy, this is the way I have to do multiplication now."</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">That made this assignment much clearer to me - and also why there's such misconception and misinformation about this notion of "Common Core Math" and "Common Core English".</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Interestingly, a week later after working on this assignment with my daughter (which we completed using the Lattice Box even though we both disliked the method), this story and the accompanying image&nbsp;was making the rounds on social media.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAI4AAAAJDU2MmFmODNhLWM0YzEtNDBhYy04YTQxLWMxZGU1MmI0MTg0MQ.jpg" height="413" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAI4AAAAJDU2MmFmODNhLWM0YzEtNDBhYy04YTQxLWMxZGU1MmI0MTg0MQ.jpg" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="310" />Perhaps some of you may remember this story about the father whose rant about the "Common Core Math" homework their child brought home became the&nbsp;viral sensation and caught the attention of magazines such as&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://time.com/38816/dads-rant-about-common-core-math-problem-goes-viral/" href="http://time.com/38816/dads-rant-about-common-core-math-problem-goes-viral/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Time Magazine</a>&nbsp;and even a featured spot on an episode of&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgwL5HSqe2Q" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgwL5HSqe2Q" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">THE GLENN BECK SHOW</a>. &nbsp;The misinterpreted message became, "This is now how our children need to do math!" &nbsp;No more could our children just borrow the one, regroup, perform long division, or use algorithmic formulas. &nbsp;This was now the "New Math" our children&nbsp;needed to learn.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">I became curious about what exactly what was this method students were now "required" to learn and use to subtract numbers, and I discovered through research and investigation that this graphic or tool featured in the homework assignment is&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.k-5mathteachingresources.com/empty-number-line.html" href="http://www.k-5mathteachingresources.com/empty-number-line.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">&nbsp;the empty number line</a>, which is a model for addition and subtraction by researchers from the Netherlands in the 1980s. &nbsp;I read about this methodology, how it was developed, and how it should be used, and it was fascinating. &nbsp;I took one of my wife's elementary level math texts and worksheets and experimented with this methodology. &nbsp;Sure enough, I attained the same differences I did when I subtracted using the more conventional and traditional method I was taught. &nbsp;Still, I was fascinated to learn about the history and development of this tool and experience how it could be used.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">After this experience, I decided to do some research and investigation into Lattice multiplication, and I found that Asian and European cultures have been using this strategy to multiply numbers as far back as the 13th Century. &nbsp;I learned the history and development of the Lattice box and experimented with how it could be used to multiply multi-digit numbers. &nbsp;Personally, I found the method to be confusing and even cumbersome, and I would not choose to use it. &nbsp;However, again, I was fascinated by its&nbsp;history and development.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Both my daughter's homework and the Facebook father's viral posting piqued my interest to learn about the different methodologies that can be used not only to perform the four operations of arithmetic - addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division - but also help deepen conceptual and procedural understanding about mathematical practices, principles, and processes. &nbsp;I learned that with math there is usually only one possible answer (which is what I already knew), but I discovered so many different methods and ways that the correct answer can be achieved and attained. &nbsp;I did not find all of these methods and strategies and methods to be helpful or even useful, but I did enjoy experimenting with these practices and procedures and deciding which method would work best for me.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAALMAAAAJGFkMDFmOTQ5LWJmYzQtNGQ5Ny1hZTdmLTU1NjgyMWVmZWU5ZQ.gif" height="241" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAALMAAAAJGFkMDFmOTQ5LWJmYzQtNGQ5Ny1hZTdmLTU1NjgyMWVmZWU5ZQ.gif" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="370" />This experience&nbsp;reminded me of how I much I disliked not only instructing but also evaluating my students on how effectively they can use specific methodologies and strategies in English language arts. &nbsp;I disliked teaching and grading my students on how to&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/diagrams2/one_pager1.htm" href="http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/diagrams2/one_pager1.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">diagram sentences</a>&nbsp;because I did not like using the method.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><br /><img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAMrAAAAJDBhOTk5NmNlLTI1ODEtNDE2Mi04NWE1LTNjYmE1YTczMzU4NQ.jpg" height="265" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAMrAAAAJDBhOTk5NmNlLTI1ODEtNDE2Mi04NWE1LTNjYmE1YTczMzU4NQ.jpg" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="353" />I also disliked requiring my students to use the&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.janeschaffer.com/" href="http://www.janeschaffer.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jane Schaeffer Writing Method&nbsp;</a>because that was the writing program and process the district and school where I was working adopted. &nbsp;While some of my students benefit from these methods, the majority of them did not, and I found myself frustrated teaching them not only&nbsp;because my students were struggling but I also struggled to use these methods and strategies&nbsp;that did not meet my learning style. &nbsp;It actually caused me to have one of the worst teaching experiences in my career - and this was in an AP English Language class! &nbsp;These kids hated writing style analyses for me not because they were frustrated in determining the tone and effect of the craft, structure, and language of the texts they were reading but because they had to use THE JANE SCHAEFER METHOD! &nbsp;In fact, that became the name of the pain they felt from writing.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">This is&nbsp;where teaching becomes a miserable experience for both the students and the teacher - when we are FORCED to use a prescriptive method, strategy, or technique to answer questions, address problems, and accomplish tasks. &nbsp;We have to use THIS READING PROGRAM because that's what the school adopted. &nbsp;We have to use THIS MATHEMATICAL PROCEDURE because that's what the district or charter has decided to use. &nbsp;While these methods, strategies, and techniques are proven effective, they're not for everybody, and the mere mention of their&nbsp;names can cause both kids and adults to cringe. &nbsp;Try it. &nbsp;Mention Singapore Math or whole language and see the reaction and response you get.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Now we have a new name for our pain in education: Common Core. &nbsp;"Common Core Math", "Common Core Reading", and "Common Core Writing" - the very name strike dread and disgust in the hears of many! &nbsp;They are characterized to be as evile&nbsp;and vile&nbsp;as Darth Vader, The Joker, Freddy Krueger, or Hannibal Lecter. &nbsp;Their names are spoked with a sneer or a tone of disdain and even fear and hatred&nbsp; The parents and even the kids have said, "Can't we just use the old way to do math or read text?" and they are being told, "NO! &nbsp;This is the way you must now read, write, and do math!"</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">According to whom?</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">I have reviewed the questions on the PARCC and SBAC exams extensively, and I have yet to see anything that resembles the practices and procedures&nbsp;provided in the textbooks, presented on the worksheets, or featured on Khan Academy. &nbsp;I would presume this is not the intention of the textbook publishers or even Saul Khan. &nbsp;However, the message has been grossly misinterpreted to state, "This is NOW HOW you must demonstrate and communicate your learning!"</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">So my question to consider is this - when we teach, are we teaching for cognition or compliance? &nbsp;</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Are we requiring&nbsp;students to answer questions correctly by following directions as explicitly and prescriptively as they are taught or are we encouraging them to think deeply and express and share how and why they can achieve and attain correct answers, desired outcomes, or specific results in different ways?</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Are we challenging students&nbsp;students to think deeply and express and share how they could transfer and use what they are learning to answer a question, address a problem, or accomplish a task, or are we directing&nbsp;them to understand there is only one way to answer a question, solve a problem, and complete a task, and you must do it this certain way just as you were taught?</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Perhaps you're saying, "But the curriculum features all these different methods and strategies the students must use to demonstrate and communicate deeper knowledge and thinking." True, but what if we approached these different methodologies, strategies, and techniques not as a mandated assignment they must complete but rather as a hands-on learning experience in which they experiment with using these practices and processes and decide whether they want to use this particular method or another strategy? &nbsp;Would they not only become familiar with these different&nbsp;processes but also realize there may be more than one way to answer a question, address a problem, and accomplish a task and they have the freedom to choose the method that would work best given the circumstances, the context, or even their own personal preference?</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">If you truly want to understand how our children are expected to&nbsp;learn math and why they should experiment with these different methodologies, I recommend you watch this video by Dr. Raj Shah, who explains perfectly how we should teach math for cognition, not compliance:&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_CK1e0Lmxw" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_CK1e0Lmxw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_CK1e0Lmxw</a></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">I ask you educators to consider when you&nbsp;send your students home with those homework sheets that feature the Lattice Box or the empty number line or require them to identify the parts of a sentence through diagramming or write an essay using the Jane Schaeffer writing method, are you teaching for cognition or compliance?</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><strong><em>Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Now THAT'S a Good Question! How to Promote&nbsp;Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning&nbsp;</span></em>will be published by ASCD in February 2016. For more information on this topic or how to receive professional development at your site, please visit&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</strong></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-146765458394456632015-07-22T07:43:00.002-07:002015-07-22T07:43:26.835-07:00How Authentic Are Your Assessments?<div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">As our schools transition from implementing to evaluating&nbsp;instruction that addresses the cognitive rigor of college and career ready standards such as the Common Core State Standards, many states have decided to grant schools and students a reprieve from&nbsp;mandates that measure and monitor overall school performance based upon the results of the new state summative assessments such as the PARCC or SBAC.&nbsp;&nbsp;Some state education agencies and charter school authority boards are allowing schools to use the site-based assessments they have implemented at their schools from testing corporations&nbsp;such&nbsp;as ATI-Galileo, NWEA, Acuity, and MAP for reporting student performance and progress.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">However, how authentic&nbsp;are these assessments? &nbsp;Are they expecting students to answer questions correctly based upon how effectively they can remember, understand, and use what they have learned or are they engaging students to express and share how they would use the&nbsp;education and experience - or expertise - they have acquired and developed to&nbsp;address and respond to&nbsp;the question?</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Authentic assessments resemble reading and writing in the real world and in school (<a data-mce-href="http://textproject.org/assets/library/resources/Valencia-Hiebert-Afflerbach-2014-Authentic-Reading-Assessment.pdf" href="http://textproject.org/assets/library/resources/Valencia-Hiebert-Afflerbach-2014-Authentic-Reading-Assessment.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hiebert, Valencia &amp; Afflerbach, 1994</a>;&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://cwtc.marinschools.org/Meetings/2011-10-07/Assessment.pdf" href="http://cwtc.marinschools.org/Meetings/2011-10-07/Assessment.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wiggins, 1993</a>). &nbsp;These assessments generally&nbsp;challenge and engage students to demonstrate and communicate their deeper knowledge, understanding, and awareness using oral, written, creative, or technical expression. They also prompt students read, review, and respond to texts or comment upon and critique the ideas, incidents, individuals, and issues they are learning supported by relevant and sufficient evidence and valid reasoning. &nbsp;They also encourage students to share and show&nbsp;what can they do or produce with the deeper and broader knowledge and thinking they have acquired and developed.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">In other words, they resemble how students will address and respond to circumstances and situations not only academically but also personally, professionally, and socially throughout and beyond their formal K-12 education. &nbsp;Think about it. &nbsp;How are we "tested" in life or the depth and extent of our&nbsp;knowledge and thinking evaluated? &nbsp;The only time we would be&nbsp;given a&nbsp;multiple choice test is for certification or licensure or unless we go on a game show like&nbsp;<em>Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?&nbsp;</em>(see my other blog entry on&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/lets-make-dok-erik-m-francis/edit?trk=pulse-edit-nav_art" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/lets-make-dok-erik-m-francis/edit?trk=pulse-edit-nav_art" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Let's Make a D.O.K.!</a>) Our knowledge and thinking is "tested" and evaluated based upon how correctly, clearly, comprehensively, and creatively we can communicate our claims, conclusions, and contentions.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">That's how we should be authentically assessing our students - based upon how&nbsp;their ability to communicate the knowledge and thinking they have acquired and developed through their education and experiences.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">In education, authentic assessments are typically used in&nbsp;active learning experiences such as project-based and problem-based learning that prompt and encourage&nbsp;students to create, do, or produce something - a plan, a product, or a project - that reflects and represents how deeply and extensively they have learned the subjects and topics they are studying. &nbsp;The assessment is generally based upon the quality of the project produced or the success of the student to come up with a solution.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">However, even though project design and problem solving are active and authentic learning experiences, are the final products and solutions students produce truly or authentically mark and measure the level and depth of their learning?</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Don't get me wrong! &nbsp;Project-based and problem-based learning are excellent instructional methods and strategies that not only challenge but also engage students to demonstrate and communicate their learning in-depth, insightfully, and in their own unique way. &nbsp;However, when it comes to assessment, most PBL experiences merely scratch the surface, focusing on&nbsp;<em>what can you create, do, or produce&nbsp;</em>without delving into<em>&nbsp;</em><em>how and why&nbsp;</em><em>you created, did, or produced&nbsp;</em>the project or solution.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">That is true authentic assessment - evaluating not only how correctly but also clearly, comprehensively, and even creatively can students communicate&nbsp;their knowledge and thinking using oral, written, creative, or technical expression.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">&nbsp;It's how we are expected to answer questions, address problems, and accomplish tasks in the real world. &nbsp;Think about it. &nbsp;In our professional and personal lives, when we answer a question, address a problem, or accomplish a task, we're not just expected to "just do&nbsp;it". &nbsp;We're also expected to delve deeper by expressing and sharing&nbsp;<em>how and why we answere</em>d, addressed the problem, and and accomplished the task. &nbsp;We need to defend, explain, justify, and support our actions and decisions. &nbsp;We are also encouraged&nbsp;to pass on our education and experiences - or expertise - to others.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Authentic assessment is about communication and expression, not just activity, production, and design. &nbsp; The quality of the response&nbsp;is determined based upon the following:</div><ul style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 40px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">Did the student answer the question, address the problem, or accomplish the task&nbsp;correctly, clearly, comprehensively, and even creatively?</li><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">Did the student express and share their claims, conclusions, and contentions in-depth, in detail, insightfully, and inimitably?</li><li class="left" style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;">Did the student&nbsp;strengthen and support their responses with textual evidence, personal experience, recorded observations, or scientifically-based research?</li></ul><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">So how does this translate into the classroom? &nbsp;We need to move away from tests that&nbsp;use&nbsp;multiple choice and provide assessments&nbsp;that utilize open-ended questions&nbsp;that provide students the opportunity to express and share the depth and extent of their learning. &nbsp;We need to refocus our evaluation&nbsp;of student learning from determining&nbsp;whether students can answer the question correctly to whether students to defend and support their response to what the question is addressing using their education and experience - or expertise - as evidentiary support. &nbsp;</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">However, this does not involve having students demonstrate and communicate their learning primarily through PBL experiences. &nbsp;We can&nbsp;convert the performance objectives&nbsp;of college and career ready standards into good&nbsp;overarching and topical essential questions they can address and respond using the texts and topics they are reading and reviewing as evidentiary support.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Good overarching questions are the inquiries students will examine and explore throughout and beyond their K-12 education. &nbsp;They address the core ideas and enduring understandings of an academic area, discipline, or field of study. &nbsp;These core ideas are addressed in the disciplinary&nbsp;core standards of the college and career ready standards. &nbsp;We can&nbsp;use the performance objectives to develop good overarching questions that can serve as the formative and summative assessments for a grade level or subject area.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAMZAAAAJDM0Y2I4ZGE2LWJmZGQtNGJkYy04N2Q1LTliZGQ0YzBiZGUxYg.jpg" height="248" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAMZAAAAJDM0Y2I4ZGE2LWJmZGQtNGJkYy04N2Q1LTliZGQ0YzBiZGUxYg.jpg" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="330" />Take a look at the questions in the accompanying graphic. &nbsp;These are derived directly from the&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ELA / Literacy CCSS Anchor Standards for&nbsp;reading</a>. &nbsp;These are the good questions students will examine and explore throughout and beyond their K-12 experience with reading. &nbsp;Consider how these good questions can act as the final assessment at a particular grade level or subject area. &nbsp;They can also serve as benchmark assessments that progressively measure and monitor how deeply and extensively students have learned these concepts and content throughout their K-12 education. &nbsp; Think about it. &nbsp;What if students were asked these same questions at the end of every school year starting in Kindergarten and through 12th grade and used the texts and topics they read and review in class that particular&nbsp;as their evidentiary support for their responses? &nbsp;How could this serve as a true measure of how deeply and extensively students have learned these disciplinary core ideas in a particular subject area?</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAIDAAAAJGYxOTBjNjU2LTE5ZDktNDkyYy1iYzI3LWFlMzRmNzE3NGUwNw.jpg" height="274" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAIDAAAAJGYxOTBjNjU2LTE5ZDktNDkyYy1iYzI3LWFlMzRmNzE3NGUwNw.jpg" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="366" />The performance objectives&nbsp;for grade level academic would serve as the topical essential question for a particular unit or lesson. Take a look at the good questions that are derived from the performance objectives of the following math standards for a&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/3/OA/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/3/OA/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">3rd grade unit on multiplication and division</a>. The cluster&nbsp;serves as the topical essential question that sets the instructional focus and serves as the summative assessment for the unit. &nbsp;The performance objectives listed under the cluster serve as the daily good question that sets the instructional focus and serves as the summative assessment for individual lessons or learning experiences. &nbsp;The problems students will be presented as part of the unit will serve as the textual evidence that strengthens and supports their responses. &nbsp;We can provide a learning experience that challenges and prompts students to address and respond to one of these questions and use the problems they are presented to examine and solve as their evidence. &nbsp;<img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAOBAAAAJGMwNGU1MTM0LWI1MzUtNDcxMC1iNmFlLWM5YmMwZWYzNWU5NQ.jpg" height="251" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAOBAAAAJGMwNGU1MTM0LWI1MzUtNDcxMC1iNmFlLWM5YmMwZWYzNWU5NQ.jpg" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="335" />Look at the accompanying graphic&nbsp;that would drive a lesson on understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem. &nbsp;The question students need to address and respond is the one in green at the top of the graphic. &nbsp;The problems they need to examine and solve will serve as their examples and&nbsp;evidence that will strengthen and support their response to the question at the header of the slide. &nbsp;However, I would advise not having the students examine and solve all these problems in one setting. &nbsp;Ask them to address and respond to the good topical question and pick one or two problems to examine and solve to support their response. &nbsp;The next day, ask them to pick two or three more of these math problems and explain how they can be solved using the Pythagorean Theorem. &nbsp;At the end of the unit, present that topical essential question as the assessment or "test" question and have them pick the one problem they&nbsp;left remaining to strengthen and support their response. &nbsp;It's practically a given that the one problem students'&nbsp;chose not to solve is the one they perceived to be the "hardest" one. &nbsp;Think about how much you would build a student's confidence if they were successfully able to express and share how they could use the math to solve that problem they perceived to be so hard. &nbsp;Also, consider how you would be able to assess their learning authentically by observing how deeply and successfully they can express and share how they can "use the math" - or rather, think mathematically.&nbsp;</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAL9AAAAJGU1MGQ4YWMzLTQ1MmQtNGJjYS05YzdmLWNiZWU0NWI3NWMwNg.jpg" height="247" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAL9AAAAJGU1MGQ4YWMzLTQ1MmQtNGJjYS05YzdmLWNiZWU0NWI3NWMwNg.jpg" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="330" />In English language arts, the overarching essential&nbsp;questions are the grade level performance objectives of the academic standards that will set the instructional focus and serve as the summative assessment for the course. &nbsp;The topical questions will directly address the text or topic being read in reviewed in class. &nbsp;Look at the topical essential questions for this book study on&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Charlotte's Web</span>&nbsp;by E.B. White. &nbsp;These questions authentically assess how deeply and extensively students understand the ideas and information presented in the text by challenging them to express and share what they have learned using oral, written, creative, or technical expression. &nbsp;They will use specific evidence from the text to strengthen and support their responses.<img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAJxAAAAJGEwNDI0ZDBjLTc2ZTUtNGJmNy05YTcyLTZiNjhkNWVhYjc2ZA.jpg" height="279" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAJxAAAAJGEwNDI0ZDBjLTc2ZTUtNGJmNy05YTcyLTZiNjhkNWVhYjc2ZA.jpg" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="372" />&nbsp;Similarly, these topical essential questions for a unit on&nbsp;Shakespearean tragic hero also set the instructional focus and serve as the summative authentic assessment that measures and monitors how deeply and extensively the students understand&nbsp;the texts and topics they are reading and reviewing.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">To create authentic assessments that measure and monitor the depth and extent of students' understanding of the core ideas of an academic area, discipline, or field of study, look at the performance objectives of the disciplinary anchor standards and practices for a particular subject area. &nbsp;You can use the&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ELA/Literacy CCSS Anchor Standards for Reading</a>, the&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CCSS Standards for Mathematical Practices</a>, the&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13165&amp;page=83" href="http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13165&amp;page=83" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Crosscutting Concepts&nbsp;</a>of the Next Generation Science Standards, or the<a data-mce-href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/historical-thinking-standards" href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/historical-thinking-standards" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">&nbsp;Historical Thinking Standards</a>, or the conceptual standards of the&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/c3/C3-Framework-for-Social-Studies.pdf" href="http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/c3/C3-Framework-for-Social-Studies.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">C3 State Standards for Social Studies</a>. &nbsp;Convert those performance objectives into good questions that ask students to address and respond&nbsp;<em>how&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>why</em>.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">To create authentic assessments that assess and evaluate deeper and extensive knowledge and thinking about a particular text or topic, look at the performance objectives of the grade level or subject area academic standards that students will address as part of a lesson or unit. &nbsp;Other than the English language arts college and career ready standards, these performance objectives generally challenge and engage students to demonstrate and communicate deeper and extensive content understanding. &nbsp;The topical essential question will serve as the single question students will continuously examine and explain over the course of the unit. &nbsp;It will also be the single question which students will need to address and respond at the end of the unit. &nbsp;They will need to address and respond to this question by&nbsp;demonstrating and communicating their learning by processing the information they have acquired and gathered into their personal or self-knowledge and use specific evidence from the texts and topics they are reading, reviewing, and responding to as support.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">That's authentic learning - expressing and sharing depth and extent of knowledge and thinking supported by examples and evidence - and that's what it means to assess learning authentically.&nbsp;</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><strong><em>Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book&nbsp;<span class="underline" style="text-decoration: underline;">Now THAT'S a Good Question! How to Promote&nbsp;Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning&nbsp;</span></em>will be published by ASCD in February 2016. For more information on this topic or how to receive professional development at your site, please visit&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</strong></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-78739269622042441162015-07-21T04:22:00.002-07:002015-07-21T04:22:28.369-07:00Burn This! Why the D.O.K. Wheel Does NOT Address Depth of Knowledge<div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">How many of you have seen this graphic?<img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAN7AAAAJGU4YTVkZjM2LWQ4OTUtNDFiOC1iNmI2LWY1MTNmNWUzYWMzMA.png" height="277" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAN7AAAAJGU4YTVkZjM2LWQ4OTUtNDFiOC1iNmI2LWY1MTNmNWUzYWMzMA.png" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="310" /></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Perhaps you were provided this graphic&nbsp;from your district or school to use as a frame of reference for planning instruction and assessment for depth of knowledge.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Perhaps this is the image that popped up when you conducted an online search about depth of knowledge.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Perhaps some of you are using this to develop lessons and units that you believe prompt and encourage students to demonstrate their depth of knowledge about the concepts and content they are learning.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Well, stop it! &nbsp;Do not use this wheel! &nbsp;In fact,&nbsp;<strong>BURN THIS</strong>&nbsp;if not physically then out of your memory because this is&nbsp;<strong>NOT</strong>&nbsp;depth of knowledge. &nbsp;It's actually a (very poor) graphic for demonstrating higher order thinking.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">What's the difference?</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><span style="line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">Higher order thinking correlates to&nbsp;the&nbsp;</span><em style="line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">kind of knowledge&nbsp;</em><span style="line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">and&nbsp;</span><em style="line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">type of thinking&nbsp;</em><span style="line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">that needs to be demonstrated in order to answer a question, address a problem, or accomplish a task. &nbsp;When we &nbsp;plan instruction and and assessment for higher order thinking, we educators typically mark and measure the level of thinking students are to demonstrate using Bloom's Taxonomy - specifically, the revised version by Anderson and Krathwohl.</span></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Depth of knowledge is an entirely different means of measuring and monitoring rigorous learning. &nbsp;It correlates<em>&nbsp;</em>more to&nbsp;<em>how extensively&nbsp;</em>students are to express and share their knowledge and thinking. &nbsp;In other words, are students expected to express and share depth of&nbsp;<strong>factual and conceptual knowledge</strong>&nbsp;(What is the information that needs to be known and understood?),&nbsp;<strong>procedural knowledge</strong>&nbsp;(&nbsp;How can the information be used to answer questions, address problems, and accomplish tasks accurately and appropriately?),&nbsp;<strong>strategic knowledge</strong>&nbsp;(Why can the information be used to produced a correct answer, desired outcome, or specific result?), and&nbsp;<strong>extended knowledge</strong>&nbsp;(What else can be done with the information and how else could it be used?). &nbsp;Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge model is typically used to designate the extent students are to express and share their learning.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Unfortunately, depth of knowledge has been misinterpreted and incorrectly perceived as being similar to higher order thinking, and much of that misconception can be contributed to the D.O.K. Wheel. &nbsp;If you look at the different pies in the wheel, you will notice that it categorizes depth of knowledge by the actions students will perform.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">That's higher order thinking, and those verbs are cognitive actions or processes students will demonstrate. &nbsp;Depth of knowledge deals with the setting, scenario, or situation in which thinking is demonstrated. &nbsp;It addresses context rather than cognition -- in other words, it's not what the student is expected to do or demonstrate but rather the scenario or the situation in which students express and share their learning.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">A<strong>&nbsp;D.O.K.-1</strong>&nbsp;assignment or assessment is very content-driven, focusing recognizing, researching,&nbsp;and rephrasing&nbsp;<em>who, what, where, when,&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>how&nbsp;</em>about data, definitions, details, facts, figures, ideas, information, principles, and procedures. &nbsp;The intent&nbsp;of D.O.K.-1 experiences&nbsp;is&nbsp;<strong>knowledge acquisition</strong>&nbsp;- acquiring&nbsp;and&nbsp;gathering the information students will need to strengthen and support their thinking. &nbsp;These questions, problems, and tasks&nbsp;&nbsp;would directly address and respond to the specific texts and topics being read and reviewed in class. &nbsp;For example, the work of literary fiction current being read, the mathematical concept being taught, the scientific subject, or the historical topic. &nbsp;Students can think deeply about the concepts and content; however, the context is more academic and factual.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">A&nbsp;<strong>D.O.K-2</strong>&nbsp;assignment or assessment is highly procedural, challenging students to understand, analyze, and evaluate&nbsp;<em>how does it function, how does it work,</em>&nbsp;or how<em>&nbsp;is it used. &nbsp;</em>The&nbsp;goal&nbsp;of D.O.K.-2 experiences&nbsp;is&nbsp;<strong>knowledge application</strong>&nbsp;- demonstrating and communicating how information can be used to achieve or attain a certain answer, outcome, or result.<em>&nbsp;&nbsp;</em>These learning activities prompt&nbsp;students to answer questions, address problems, and accomplish tasks correctly and successfully by applying practices, principles, and processes accurately and appropriately. &nbsp; Examples of D.O.K.-2 items and tasks would be to use a&nbsp;mathematical&nbsp;procedure to solve mathematical and real world &nbsp;algorithmic and word problems, explain how a natural&nbsp;event of&nbsp;phenomena occurs, describe how a text or author expresses and shares ideas and information, or how a historical event turned out as it did. &nbsp;</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">A&nbsp;<strong>D.O.K.-3</strong>&nbsp;assignment or assessment engages students to think strategically and use reasoning to analyze and evaluate&nbsp;<em>what are the causes, connections, and consequences</em>. &nbsp;The purpose&nbsp;of D.O.K.-3 experiences&nbsp;is&nbsp;<strong>knowledge analysis</strong>&nbsp;- examining and explaining&nbsp;<em>why is this information essential and relevant&nbsp;</em>to know, understand, and be aware of&nbsp;in order to study&nbsp;phenomena, solve&nbsp;problems, and solifdify&nbsp;meaning. &nbsp;These learning activities prompt&nbsp;students to express and share&nbsp;<em>why can the knowledge be used to produce a certain result&nbsp;</em>and<em>&nbsp;how can the knowledge&nbsp;be used to categorize, classify, and clarify ideas, incidents, individuals, and issues</em>. &nbsp;Examples would be analyzing&nbsp;<em>why</em>&nbsp;an author chose to present ideas and information in a certain medium and evaluate&nbsp;<em>what</em>&nbsp;<em>is the&nbsp;effect&nbsp;</em>the author's choices has on the text and the reader. &nbsp;In math and science, a D.O.K.-3 question, problem, or task engages a student to&nbsp;a combination of deductive and inductive reasoning to examine and explain outcomes and results. &nbsp;In history, students are engaged to establish historical arguments about the claims and conclusions made about historical ideas, incidents, individuals, and issues. &nbsp;They also encourage students to think hypothetically about&nbsp;<em>what if, what would happen,</em>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<em>what could happen&nbsp;</em>given certain criteria or factors.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">A&nbsp;<strong>D.O.K.-4</strong>&nbsp;assignment or assessment encourages students to expand their knowledge and extend&nbsp;their thinking beyond the topic, the teacher, the text, and even themselves to consider&nbsp;<em>what else&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>how else</em>. &nbsp;The intent of D.O.K.-4 experiences is&nbsp;<strong>knowledge augmentation and transfer</strong>&nbsp;- recognizing and realizing&nbsp;<em>how and why information is beneficial&nbsp;</em>addressing and responding to circumstances, issues, problems, and situations in a variety of circumstances and contexts. &nbsp;These are the items and tasks that generally foster and promote active learning such as project-based and problem-based learning that encourage students to analyze and evaluate&nbsp;<em>what impact or influence&nbsp;</em>do ideas, incidents, individuals, and issues have across the curriculum and beyond the classroom. &nbsp;They also encourage students to think creatively about&nbsp;<em>what can you create, do, or produce&nbsp;</em>with the deeper thinking and extensive knowledge they have acquired and developed.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Notice how these levels are categorized not by the cognitive actions the students are to take but rather the context in which students demonstrate and communicate their thinking. &nbsp;&nbsp;While the level of thinking varies, the depth of knowledge depends upon the extent in which student are to demonstrate and communicate what they have learned - academically (<strong>D.O.K.-1</strong>), procedurally (<strong>D.O.K.-2</strong>), strategically and reasonably (<strong>D.O.K.-3</strong>), or extensively and authentically (<strong>D.O.K.-4</strong>).</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Still, many of us&nbsp;educators and our students need some kind of graphic&nbsp;or visual to help us clearly "see the picture" presented by depth of knowledge. &nbsp;The D.O.K. Wheel unfortunately brings more confusion than clarity. &nbsp;Therefore, I would like to present a visual that could provide some guidance and support - the D.O.K. Ceilings.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAMzAAAAJDE5ZmVkM2ZiLWY2OTAtNDE4MC05MjAyLThhNGJjNGIyOGIwNA.jpg" height="339" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAMzAAAAJDE5ZmVkM2ZiLWY2OTAtNDE4MC05MjAyLThhNGJjNGIyOGIwNA.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="452" /></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">This is the&nbsp;graphic I use when I conduct my presentations on questioning for cognitive rigor, which is defined by the level of thinking and depth of knowledge students are challenged and engaged to demonstrate and communicate in their learning. &nbsp;Look closely at how this image is constructed. &nbsp;These are not steps but rather ceilings that indicate how extensively students are to engage with the subjects and topics they are learning. &nbsp;</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Hopefully, this graphic will help you design those D.O.K. lessons you are desperately trying to develop and your administrators are wanting to see - and finally rid us of the grossly inaccurate D.O.K. Wheel.</div><div><br /></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-84072077574124484862015-05-26T20:17:00.002-07:002015-05-28T15:29:42.880-07:00More Than a Ride: Why Every Educator, Student, Parent, and Politician Should See TOMORROWLAND<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jgrgh3dHLDc/VWUzzgUDSKI/AAAAAAAAAgA/X0koUieidw8/s1600/tomorrowland-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jgrgh3dHLDc/VWUzzgUDSKI/AAAAAAAAAgA/X0koUieidw8/s400/tomorrowland-logo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't dismiss TOMMOROWLAND as another marketing ploy by Disney to buy merchandise or visit their parks by making a movie about one of its rides. &nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">TOMORROWLAND is not SPACE MOUNTAIN: THE MOVIE. &nbsp;It's also not THE HAUNTED MANSION or PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. &nbsp;There is no Jack Sparrow, and George Clooney's character is not cartoonish enough to turn into a character in the park or turn into an animatronic or hologram that will entertain park patrons as they neglect wait to ride Space Mountain, Mission to Mars, or Star Tours. &nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp;The only thing this movie truly has in common and connection with Disney is that it was produced by the studio and its title is named after the futuristic corner of their Disney parks - that and the portal to TOMORROWLAND is through one of its rides that was featured in the 1964 World's Fair (well, they couldn't use the saucer pillars since MEN IN BLACK already established they were flying saucers :D).</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">TOMORROWLAND is actually a statement about education -- particularly, what does it truly mean to demonstrate higher level thinking and communicate deeper knowledge, understanding, and awareness. &nbsp;It talks about the demise of the dreamers, the innovators, the inventors, and the creative thinkers who are to look beyond factual knowledge and conventional wisdom and imagine and wonder <i>what if</i>. &nbsp; In fact, the entire movie is an answer to <i>what if </i>questions.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What if </i>the world and everything that is wrong or dysfunctional about it was able to be fixed?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What if </i>the end of the world could be prevented or protected instead of perpetuated not only through our destructive actions and decisions but also our sensationalized and entertaining perspectives and points of view about how mankind and society will eventually self-destruct?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What if </i>all this could happen because someone - in this case, an idealistic young girl who boldly attempts to ask her teachers who teach about the plight of mankind and society with their lessons about international conflicts, global warming, and even dystopian science fiction - was brave and bold enough to ask, "What can we do to fix it?"</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes, all this in a Disney movie - or rather a movie produced and distributed by Disney.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, this is not the typical Disney movie that portrays an idealistic, puritanical, and simplistic world in which everyone is animated - in appearance and action - and express themselves through song and dance. &nbsp;There is also nothing insipid or pedantic about this movie. &nbsp;It's not only a highly entertaining movie as well as one with a powerful message that says the following:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wnsTHv8075g/VWU1DeYLm2I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/hJ5_gJAnmY0/s1600/CaseyAthena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wnsTHv8075g/VWU1DeYLm2I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/hJ5_gJAnmY0/s320/CaseyAthena.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1) <b>Girls are smart and wise!</b>&nbsp; Forget PITCH PERFECT 2. &nbsp;This is the movie for girls this summer that is not only entertaining and enjoyable but also presents a powerful message about the potential of young ladies in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics - better known as S.T.E.M. &nbsp;The main character is an intelligent teenage girl named Casey (Britt Robertson) who has an edge not because she is rebelling against the norms and rules of society but rather because she won't settle for society to lie down and surrender. &nbsp;She's a believer, a dreamer, and (gasp!) an optimist who believes the world's problems can be fixed. &nbsp;In fact, her ideals and hopes are the catalyst that earns her the Tomorrowland pin and has her become identified by another young girl, Athena (played by Raffey Cassidy) to recognize and recruit her to come to Tomorrowland, a utopian society where all the residents are great dreamers and thinkers like her. &nbsp;These two girls drive the film forward and establish the central ideas and themes of this movie - even when the world is at its darkest and most down, there is always hope driven by ideas and dreams that it could get better.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2) <b>Learning Through S.T.E.M. is academic, authentic, and awesome! &nbsp;</b>TOMORROWLAND is more of a promotion for a S.T.E.M. education than an advertisement for a Disney education. &nbsp;The movie expresses the importance of developing deeper knowledge, understanding, and awareness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. &nbsp;However, it does not preach. &nbsp;The message is subtle yet evident through the actions and attitudes of Casey. &nbsp;For example, there is a scene in which her father (played by Tim McGraw), who is an engineer who is about to be laid off by NASA once the local Cape Canaveral rocket launchpad where he works is demolished, is in his workshop tinkering with a technical device that won't work. &nbsp;Casey enters, suggests to "try this", clips one of the ends of the cable to another line, and it works. &nbsp;She doesn't provide an elaborate explanation or spout scientific terminology. &nbsp;She solves the problem simply by "trying this" - which is truly what is the intent and purpose of teaching and learning with S.T.E.M. &nbsp;It's not about answering questions, addressing problems, and accomplishing tasks by knowing, understanding, and "doing" the math and science. &nbsp;It's about thinking how and why math and science - and technology and engineering - can be used to answer questions, address problems, and accomplish tasks. &nbsp;However, they do it in a way that is both educational and entertaining rather than academic and austere.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4kgA1NOcml8/VWU0eOT6aNI/AAAAAAAAAgI/E5pkwrUmJqU/s1600/Caseyraiseshand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4kgA1NOcml8/VWU0eOT6aNI/AAAAAAAAAgI/E5pkwrUmJqU/s200/Caseyraiseshand.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3) <b>Kids want to think and test their thinking, not be taught to think and take tests! &nbsp;</b>Interestingly, it's not the kids who frown or reject Casey for being smart. &nbsp;It's her teachers who stand in front of the room teaching about nuclear war and world conflict, about the polar ice caps melting due to global warming, and the dystopian science fiction written by Ray Bradbury, Aldous Huxley, and George Orwell that paint a bleak forecast of our future and profess their own ideas about the impossibility of utopias. &nbsp;Casey raises her hand high in each class, which goes ignored until her English class when her teacher groans and rolls his eyes as he calls on her. &nbsp;That's when she asks, "Can we fix it?" Unfortunately, the class ends before a response can be given, and Casey is left on her own to think deeply about how could she answer her own question (which she eventually does). &nbsp;These are the scenes that truly gripped me not only as an educator but as a parent and a citizen of the world. &nbsp;Our curriculum and the teaching we do can be very negative, focusing on what are or have been the problems, how were they fixed or attempted to be fixed, and how can we learn what those steps so we can handle those problems if they happen again. &nbsp;Unfortunately, not every problem can be solved; however, they can be addressed, handled, resolved, or settled, and that's what we need to teach our kids - to think about how to solve problems but test whether their ideas, hypotheses, and predictions are valid and viable. &nbsp;That's how kids not only learn but also demonstrate and communicate learning, and that's what this movie is advising. &nbsp;Let kids think about and test their thinking, not be talked to and tested.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oPSGvCVBD_o/VWU1snk_ezI/AAAAAAAAAgY/PoctOwQoPzA/s1600/future.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oPSGvCVBD_o/VWU1snk_ezI/AAAAAAAAAgY/PoctOwQoPzA/s320/future.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4) <b>The failures and flaws of the future can be fixed even before they happen.</b> Even Tomorrowland, which was a utopian society, crumbles. &nbsp;However, instead of being another story about the failures and flaws of the future as depicted in the printed and filmed texts of THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy, the DIVERGENT books, and the MAZE RUNNER novels, TOMORROWLAND focuses on how can these failures and flaws be fixed without revolutionary uprisings against the powers that be. &nbsp;In fact, this movie could be perceived as presenting the cause behind the dystopian futures of this film. &nbsp;We were so consumed with, exposed to, and stressed about different ways doomsday will happen that we were actually inspired and informed how to cause and create the apocalypse. &nbsp;Simply put - we provided ourselves with the tools of our own destruction by educating and entertaining ourselves about it rather than challenging and engaging ourselves to think deeply about how to avoid it. &nbsp;TOMORROWLAND takes more of a design approach to addressing the problem by accepting and acknowledging, <i>Here are the flaws, so what can we do to innovate or invent to improve the world</i>&nbsp;<i>rather than work toward avoiding it or even ignoring it? &nbsp;</i>The future does not have to be flawed or even fatal. &nbsp;It can be fixed - and that's what Casey believes and sets out to do.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I won't tell you if she's successful though. &nbsp;You'll have to see this movie for yourself. &nbsp;If you do, and you have children, take them. &nbsp;I took my 12 year old daughter - who wanted to see the movie because of the Disney connection - and her 9 year old sister - who didn't want to see it because what she saw in the ads didn't interested her. &nbsp;However, all three of us walked out of there blown away not only by how entertaining and enjoyable the movie was but also how it made us to enthused and encouraged. &nbsp;The three of us walked out of there constantly saying, "WOW!" not because of the story or the special effect but because the meaning and message was so encouraging. &nbsp;When I asked them what I thought the movie was about, their answers were the four items listed above, and the explanations were based on the conversation we had.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're a teacher, show this to your students - especially if you are implementing or attempting to implement a S.T.E.M. instructional focus at your school. &nbsp;Ask your students, "What does this film infer and suggest about the following: girls learning science and math, learning for and through S.T.E.M., thinking to learn vs. learning to think, testing vs. taking tests, the future can be fixed?" &nbsp;Then ask them, "How could you incorporate these ideas and themes to deepen your learning experience in and out of school?" &nbsp;Make your goal for demonstrating and communicating not only to meet the performance objectives of academic standards but also to demonstrate and communicate deeper knowledge and thinking to earn that pin to Tomorrowland.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you know an elected politician in your local community or who works in politics, show them this film. &nbsp;Discuss with them <i>what is the meaning and message of this film</i>. &nbsp;Then challenge them to consider <i>how could they change and lead their community and constituents to fix the future by focusing on making the present a better place</i>. Have them fulfill those promises they made in their campaigns. &nbsp;Remind them what they promised and prompt them to follow through even in the face of doubt, discouragement, and disillusion.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's what Casey did in TOMORROWLAND, that's what the movie teaches us, and that's why every educator, student, parent, and politician should see TOMORROWLAND - because it will challenge and engage you to think deeply about how to fix the future by focusing on today.</span>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-16017904530138549362015-04-09T06:43:00.001-07:002015-04-10T14:58:38.147-07:00Is there a C.R.Q. 0 - or Should There Be One?<div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><em>Should there be a C.R.Q. 0?</em></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">That was a question posed to me today from a teacher during a professional development training I was conducting for teachers who worked at the Santa Clara County of Education Community Schools. I was in the middle of explaining my Questions 4 Cognitive Rigor template that I developed to help teachers organize and scaffold their questioning. I was explaining how the template was structured in the following manner:</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><img alt="" class="left" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAALFAAAAJDE1YjRkZjRiLTQ5M2YtNDkyNS1iNDU4LWM1ZmIwY2NhNWVkMw.jpg" height="219" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAALFAAAAJDE1YjRkZjRiLTQ5M2YtNDkyNS1iNDU4LWM1ZmIwY2NhNWVkMw.jpg" style="float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-right: 30px; max-width: 100%;" width="292" /></div><ul style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 40px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">C.R.Q.1 questions inform students of&nbsp;<em>what are the facts&nbsp;</em>they must acquire and gather in order to think deeply about what they are learning.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">C.R.Q.2 questions focus on the standards by challenging and engaging students to think deeply about&nbsp;<em>how and why does the information be processed into deeper knowledge and thinking</em>.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">C.R.Q.3 questions expand students' knowledge and extend their thinking further by asking&nbsp;<em>how can knowledge, understanding, and awareness be transferred and used in a variety of circumstances and contexts.</em></li><li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">C.R.Q.4 questions ask students to think critically and creatively about how they can convey&nbsp;<em>what do you think, believe, or feel;&nbsp;</em>express&nbsp;<em>what is your opinion, perspective, or thoughts</em>; or share&nbsp;<em>what can you create, design, develop, plan,&nbsp;</em><em>or</em>&nbsp;<em>produce&nbsp;</em>using what they have learned.</li></ul><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">The purpose of this template is for teachers to organize their questions so students can process the information they have acquired and gathered into knowledge and thinking they can transfer and use to address and respond to a variety of circumstances and situations in-depth, insightfully, and in their own unique way. The questions are called cognitive rigor questions - or C.R.Q.s - because they challenge and engage students to demonstrate and communicate the depth of their knowledge and thinking.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">For years, I have been training schools and teachers on how to use this template to organize and scaffold instruction through inquiry and questioning. However, today, I was asked the good question by a teacher stated at the beginning of this blog post, "Should there be a C.R.Q.-0?"</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Immediately, I asked the question I have become known to ask whenever I want someone to clarify their response: "What do you mean?"</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">The teacher explained how a C.R.Q.0 could be a&nbsp;<em>good question&nbsp;</em>that asks students to share what they already know, understand, or are aware of the concept and content that they are going to learn. She did not see where there was a section in the Questions 4 Cognitive Rigor template to determine background knowledge and was wondering whether there should be a C.R.Q.0 that does not ask what do you need to know, understand, do, or think but rather&nbsp;<em>what do you already know, understand, or are aware of this concept or content you're about to learn.</em></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">To be honest, I never thought about designating a category of a C.R.Q.0 that can serve as a check for background knowledge or understanding. In fact, I really never thought about checking for background knowledge and understanding because I associated those questions as more evaluative while the C.R.Q.s I developed were more instructional, driving as well as assessing learning.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">However, the idea of a C.R.Q.0 does intrigue me, and for most of today I have been wrapping my head around providing a C.R.Q.0 category that teachers can use not only to determine but also drive&nbsp;<em>what students already know, understand, and are aware of concepts and content.</em></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">The C.R.Q.s I developed were derived from the concept of cognitive rigor developed by Karin Hess, Dennis Carlock, Ben Jones, and John Walkup (<a data-mce-href="https://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/common/webinars/Cognitive%20Rigor%20Matrix%20Article_Hess,%20Carlock,%20Jones,%20and%20Walkup.pdf" href="https://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/common/webinars/Cognitive%20Rigor%20Matrix%20Article_Hess,%20Carlock,%20Jones,%20and%20Walkup.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">2009</a>) that aligned Bloom's Revised Taxonomy with Webb's four levels of Depth-of-Knowledge. Walkup addressed the idea of&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://cognitiverigor.blogspot.com/2014/04/is-there-dok-0.html" href="http://cognitiverigor.blogspot.com/2014/04/is-there-dok-0.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">is there a D.O.K.-0</a>&nbsp;in his blog. He suggests how these activities are "pseudo-challenging" or "appear intellectually challenging" (<a data-mce-href="http://cognitiverigor.blogspot.com/2014/04/is-there-dok-0.html" href="http://cognitiverigor.blogspot.com/2014/04/is-there-dok-0.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Walkup, 2015</a>). However, from the description of the task Dr. Walkup describes- baking a cake resembling a cell - it seems as if this task would qualify more as a D.O.K.-1 in that is asks students to recall and reproduce information but in a creative manner.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">In regards to C.R.Q.'s, that activity would be a C.R.Q.4. However, the task would be prompted by asking either&nbsp;<em>how could you bake a cake that details the structure and discusses the functions of the parts a cell&nbsp;</em>or even&nbsp;<em>how could you construct a model or graphic representation that details the parts of a cell and their function?</em></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">While the C.R.Q.'s I have developed are derived from Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge, these questions focus more on how students can express and share their knowledge and thinking. The depth of their knowledge, thinking, and disposition depends upon how they are expected to demonstrate and communicate their learning. C.R.Q.1's ask students&nbsp;<em>what is the information</em>. C.R.Q.2's ask&nbsp;<em>how can an answer be attained using the information</em>. C.R.Q.3's ask&nbsp;<em>how and why can the information be used to attain a particular response or result</em>. C.R.Q.4's ask&nbsp;<em>what else can you do with the information.</em></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">So why not include a C.R.Q.0 that asks&nbsp;<em>what do you already know, understand, and are aware of the information?</em></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Am I going to include a C.R.Q.0 category to the Questions 4 Cognitive Rigor? That's not for me to decide. That's up to you. If you think a C.R.Q.0 would provide students with a deeper educational experience and engage them to think deeply as well as express and share the depth of their knowledge, thinking, and&nbsp;disposition, then I say go for it.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">After all, it's your lesson and your students. I'm just providing a tool you can use and a means to challenge and engage your students. What you do with it is up to you.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><strong><em>Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book Now THAT'S a Good Question! Questions for Cognitive Rigor&nbsp;</em>will be published by ASCD in November 2015. For more information on this topic or how to receive professional development at your site, please visit&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</strong></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-2678642015674999132015-04-09T06:05:00.001-07:002015-04-09T06:05:57.868-07:00Lesson Planning by What's Happening or Trending in the World<div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">One of the things I often hear from the educators with whom I work is about the curriculum they are using or the lack of curriculum they have to address the cognitive rigor of college and career ready standards. &nbsp;They often express their concern about the resources provided to them and how they do&nbsp;not seem to be aligned to the standards even though the textbook publishers&nbsp;proclaim they are. &nbsp;They also discuss how they do not have the curriculum that truly reflects the kind of questions their students will encounter and experience on the PARCC or SBAC assessments.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">However, what if I told you that lessons can be derived and planned just by checking what's trending on Yahoo! or watching the news this morning?</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">It's 5:15 am as I write this, and I am in my hotel room in Lake Havasu, AZ, (not on vacation) watching the news and surfing the net before I get ready to work with one of my schools for the day. &nbsp;I go on Yahoo! and I see this is article&nbsp;the lead article on the page:&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="http://news.yahoo.com/signs-alien-life-found-2025-nasas-chief-scientist-212655192.html" href="http://news.yahoo.com/signs-alien-life-found-2025-nasas-chief-scientist-212655192.html" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/signs-alien-life-found-2025-nasas-chief-scientist-212655192.html</a></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Immediately, I'm thinking about how this would be a great lesson to teach today in school and how I wish I had a classroom where I could have the students read not only this article but also other articles and editorials that are currently appearing on the internet discussing this topic. &nbsp;Though I don't have a classroom to teach, I do immediately take out my cognitive rigor questions and decide to make some Daily Good Questions as if I would be&nbsp;teaching this today.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">The first thing I think about is&nbsp;what is the topical good question that the article addresses. &nbsp;I also want students to expand their knowledge and extend their thinking about the content, ideas, and messages presented in the article.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Then I check the Next Generation Science Standards and the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards to determine what overarching concepts and standards&nbsp;could be addressed in this lesson.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">I also consider&nbsp;the universal ideas and themes&nbsp;the article and its subject matter broach.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Then I think about what exactly would&nbsp;I want my students to do with the information they have read.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">This is what I came up with &nbsp;- and it only took me approximately 15 minutes not including the time it took to read the article.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAANrAAAAJDczY2JiYjY5LTFkNTctNGNiNC1hMTE4LTAyNDg2ZDYxYmMwMw.jpg" height="441" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAANrAAAAJDczY2JiYjY5LTFkNTctNGNiNC1hMTE4LTAyNDg2ZDYxYmMwMw.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="588" />Now I not only have a standards-driven lesson for the day but also a student-centered experience that has students thinking deeply about the ideas and information stated in the article as well as expressing and sharing their own knowledge, thinking, and disposition about what they have read.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">This is the benefit of teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. &nbsp;It allows us educators to provide our students deeper educational experiences that&nbsp;stimulate their thinking and deepen their knowledge, understanding, and awareness&nbsp;not only about concepts and content but also the academic standards they must meet and exceed. &nbsp;It also provides us educators to expand our students' knowledge and extend their thinking across the curriculum and beyond the classroom to recognize and realize the relevance of the academic skills and subjects they are learning.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">We don't need to be beholden to the curriculum packages and textbooks provided to us. &nbsp;All we need to do is consider the connection between academic concepts and real world circumstances. &nbsp;This can be done not only in the literary based courses such as English language arts and history / social studies but also the mathematical and scientific courses that are more conceptual and procedural. &nbsp;Consider the following example that involves using the Pythagorean Theorem.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><img alt="" class="center" data-mce-src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAK3AAAAJDgwYjRjMTZjLTQ5ODItNDdmNi1hMDMxLTkzMzVhZjk1MmViZA.jpg" height="441" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAK3AAAAJDgwYjRjMTZjLTQ5ODItNDdmNi1hMDMxLTkzMzVhZjk1MmViZA.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="588" /></div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">This is a topical good question that was derived directly from the Mathematics Common Core State Standards - specifically&nbsp;<a class="identifier" data-mce-href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/8/G/B/7/" href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/8/G/B/7/" target="_blank">CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.B.7</a>. &nbsp;The images were found from an image search I conducted looking for mathematical and real world problems involving the Pythagorean Theorem. &nbsp;If I was to teach this lesson, I would ask my students to address and respond to the topical good question and choose to solve either 2 mathematical and 1 real world problem or 1&nbsp;mathematical&nbsp;and 2&nbsp;real world&nbsp;problems to use as their evidentiary support in their response. &nbsp;They are still "doing the math" by solving these problems. &nbsp;However, they are also thinking mathematically about&nbsp;<em>how can the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse be used to determine unknown side lengths in right triangles&nbsp;</em>and express and share their response using some form of oral, written, creative, or technical communication.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">Again, this was all planned&nbsp;using the internet as well my own curiosity, interest. imagination, and wonder about the concepts and content I would be teaching.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">So before we go to bed&nbsp;or as we wake up in the morning, take a moment to read the paper, watch the news, or search the internet - or even have the news playing in the background. &nbsp;Look and listen what's going on in the world. &nbsp;Think about how it relates to what you are teaching or how it could address the standards. &nbsp;Then make those&nbsp;good questions that will not only stimulate students' thinking and deepen their knowledge, understanding, and awareness but also expand their knowledge, extend their thinking, and pique their curiosity, imagination, interest, and wonder.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;">That's what good questions do, and it&nbsp;can be&nbsp;easy and simple to provide students deeper educational experience if you ask good questions.</div><div style="color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><strong><em>Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is the lead professional education specialist and owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing professional development and consultation on teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. His book Now THAT'S a Good Question! Questions for Cognitive Rigor&nbsp;</em>will be published by ASCD in November 2015. For more information on this topic or how to receive professional development at your site, please visit&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.maverikeducation.com" href="https://www.maverikeducation.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>.</strong></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-73482251810728236202015-03-31T07:28:00.002-07:002015-03-31T07:29:01.338-07:00Where Should We Go From Here? A Suggestion for Reviewing the Common Core State Standards<div style="font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana">"</span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Where do we go from here now that all other children are growin' up</span></i></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>And how do we spend our lives if there's no-one to lend us a hand."</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><i>- "Games People Play"</i></i></span></div><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alan Parsons Project</i></span></div><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"></span><br /><div style="font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;"><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now that the AZ Senate has once again voted down a bill that would abolish the Common Core State Standards, it's time for all stakeholders involved - the teachers, the administrators, the parents, and the legislators - to look closely at the real issues surrounding the standards.</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The problem with the Common Core State Standards are not with the standards themselves. &nbsp;While they are not "perfect", they are more rigorous in regards to the level of thinking and depth of knowledge they expect students to demonstrate and communicate - much more than previous state-based standards that asked students to remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create without any context. &nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The standards should be reviewed by members of the community to ensure these standards will appropriately and effectively prepare our children for the demands and expectations they will face in their postsecondary academic and vocational endeavors. &nbsp;The complaints about how the standards were adopted and implemented are valid. &nbsp;They are a true example of how poorly the change process has been implemented.</span></div><div style="font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;"><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The true problem with the Common Core State Standards is the emphasis that has been placed upon them, and unfortunately this emphasis has not been academic. &nbsp;They have been used as a political example of federal government intrusion. &nbsp;They have been used as an economic reason to sell and purchase new textbooks and curriculum packages. &nbsp;They have also been used a threat to schools to "raise the rigor" and "raise their performance" as measured by student achievement on tests.</span></span></div><div style="font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another key concern about the Common Core State Standards is how students and teachers have been prepared to address these standards. &nbsp;While state and county education agencies have provided professional development to educators, these trainings have been costly not only fiscally but also in regards to time. &nbsp;It is impossible for a one-day professional development - be it full day, half-day, or two hours before or after school - to be effective without follow-up and follow-through. &nbsp;The strategies that are also being taught as part of this professional development are not only unfocused but also require every teacher to teach a certain way. &nbsp;Instead of asking teachers to think deeply about how could these standards be taught, we are directly instructing them that <i>this is the way the standards MUST be taught </i>without any evidence or proof that these instructional methodologies, strategies, and techniques are effective.</span></div><div style="font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Parents have also not been involved in the change process. &nbsp;That's not just the school's fault. &nbsp;Some parents truly do not have time to think about how the standards are changing the expectations for teaching and learning. &nbsp;The impression and the message they are receiving about the standards are from the homework sheets students are bringing home that have been mistakenly labeled as "Common Core math" and "Common Core reading and writing" along with the 30 second news bites, talk show topics, or articles in newspapers and magazines that focus more on the debate over rather than the analysis of the CCSS.</span></div><div style="font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;"><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If the Common Core State Standards are to serve their intent and purpose, then the education and political decision-makers not only in Arizona but every state that have adopted the Common Core State Standards need to refocus their attention on how to implement these standards effectively and efficiently.</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are some questions schools and their stakeholders should reflect upon and review:</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1) How do the standards provide students educational experiences that will stimulate their thinking and deepen their understanding of the concepts and content they are learning?</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2) How do the standards provide teachers the opportunity to think deeply - critically, creatively, decisively, flexibly, practically, and strategically - how to provide deeper, student-centered teaching and learning experiences that expand students' knowledge and extend their thinking across the curriculum and beyond the classroom?</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3) How do the standards serve as a measure of student achievement, teacher effectiveness, and overall school performance not just based upon on formative and summative assessments but on authentic assessments that allow students to express and share their knowledge, thinking, and disposition in-depth, insightfully, and in their own unique way using oral, written, creative, or technical expression?</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are the&nbsp;<i>good questions&nbsp;</i>that should drive the review of the standards. &nbsp;What makes them&nbsp;<i>good questions&nbsp;</i>is not their form but rather their intent and purpose, which is to have us think deeply, examine and explore thoroughly, and communicate clearly deeper knowledge, understanding, and awareness - the same things we want our students to do with their learning.</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span></span><span mce_style="color:black;font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Forget all the rhetoric from those who support or are against the standards. &nbsp;Put aside the textbooks and curriculum packages sold to the local education agency that advertise they are "aligned to and address the Common Core State Standards". &nbsp;Let's look closely at these standards with a critical &nbsp;- yet unbiased view to determine whether they meet their intent and purpose, which is to challenge and engage students to demonstrate and communicate their deeper knowledge, thinking, and disposition about the concepts and content they are learning.</span></span></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-45426803219087505972015-03-19T18:25:00.004-07:002015-03-19T19:16:54.139-07:00Check Your Agenda at the Door! The Misconstruction of the Common Core<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I was proud to speak before the Arizona Senate Education Committee about the Common Core State Standards. &nbsp;I am against the legislative bill that would rid our state of the CCSS. &nbsp;However, it might not be for the reasons that you think.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I said in my testimony, I support the intent and purpose of CCSS, which is to challenge and engage students to demonstrate and communicate deeper levels of cognitive rigor i.e. higher order thinking and depth of knowledge. &nbsp;However, I do not support the politics and economics that have sullied the intent and purpose of these standards.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The CCSS are not the problem with education. &nbsp;The problem lies in the implementation and impression. &nbsp;The message is being misinterpreted, which is unfortunate because it allowed us for the first time to set nationwide expectations for student learning. &nbsp;How to teach the standards still lies in state and local control. &nbsp;Unfortunately, that control has been turned over to the politicians who have made this another excuse to rail against our current federal administration and the textbook companies who have wrongly misconstrued, "This is now the way you need to read, write, and do math."</span><br /><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The CCSS has unfortunately become an extension of No Child Left Behind in that accountability is more important and vital - or essential - than academics. &nbsp;The difference is that the accountability was a federal mandate that tasked the states to provide standards-based instruction at the state level. &nbsp;These standards, unfortunately, were neither well-written nor cognitively demanding. &nbsp;The CCSS are not only cognitively complex but also flexible enough for both students and teachers to think critically and creatively how to participate in and provide deeper teaching and learning experiences.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, the assessments and the focus on them have muddied the intent and purpose of the CCSS, which is to teach our children not what is the information but rather how and why the information can be used to attain a desired or specific response and result, what else can be done with the information to attain a certain outcome or solution, and - most importantly - what can <u>you</u>, the student, do&nbsp;with the information you have learned. &nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Education has become more about accountability and assessment than academics. &nbsp;We are teaching students to take tests that have high stakes. &nbsp;However, are those high stakes placed on the students ability to demonstrate and communicate their learning clearly, correctly, and creatively or are the high stakes more placed more on the school to perform? &nbsp;What's more important - that the student or the school receives an A?&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The work our children are bringing home are not because of the standards. &nbsp;This is the work that the textbook companies and curriculum publishers are perpetuating as "Common Core Math" and "Common Core Literacy". &nbsp;With all the work I have done with the CCSS, I have yet to see any question on a PARCC or SBAC &nbsp;test that resembles anything featured on Khan Academy or published by Harcourt-Mifflin or Pearson. &nbsp;<b>There is no one way to teach the CCSS because it is not a curriculum or a program</b>. &nbsp;They are a set of performance objectives that defines what a child must know, understand, and be able to do by the end of a grade level. &nbsp;How they get there should lie in the professional decisions and judgment of the educators.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the CCSS are to fulfill its intent and purpose, then it needs to be taken away from the politicians and publishers and given to the educators who can teach these cognitively rigorous standards critically and creatively. &nbsp;It is as simple as asking kids, "Why is this the answer?" to a math problem or providing a real world situation in which the mathematical practice, principle, and process can be used. &nbsp;It is as simple as students thinking deeply and conveying what is the meaning and message behind the literary fiction and nonfiction texts they are reading and reviewing; explaining how authors use the conventions of writing, language, and even production to express the meaning and message; and sharing how could the student create, design, develop, plan, or produce a similar text that addresses the meaning and messages of these texts in their own unique way. &nbsp;We need to teach students how to process the academic information - the data, the details, the definitions - they have researched and retrieved into deeper knowledge and thinking they can transfer and use in a variety of circumstances and conditions as well as express and share their deeper understanding and awareness in their own unique way.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is what signifies college and career readiness - not performance on a standardized test. &nbsp;That is the intent and purpose of the Common Core State Standards. &nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is what unfortunately has been lost in all the politicking and commercialization not only of the standards but also education.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do I think the Common Core State Standards are <i>good standards</i>? &nbsp;I would say they are <i>good </i>not in the way they are written but rather how they challenge and engage students to think deeply and express and share their deeper knowledge, thinking, and disposition in their own unique way using oral, written, creative, and technical expression. &nbsp;That's what I think makes both a standard and the questions that address it <i>good</i>. &nbsp;Do I think they can be better? &nbsp;There's always room for improvement or to go to the next level.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's my objection to states repealing the CCSS, and that is what I expressed and shared this morning before the Arizona Senate Education Committee. &nbsp;States such Arizona are having similar debates and discussions and facing similar decisions. &nbsp;However, w</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hat are their other option? &nbsp;Are there a better set of standards that set deeper expectations for student learning? &nbsp;States such as Arizona are backing out of the CCSS without a set of or even a plan for developing academic standards and performance standards that will drive instruction, assessment, and evaluation, and that is why I stood against the bill for repealing the Common Core State Standards in Arizona.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If Arizona or any state backs out of the CCSS, I would strongly recommend against returning to the previous state standards students were addressing and also being assessed on under No Child Left Behind. &nbsp;The majority of these standards are more content-driven than conceptual, teaching students </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who, what, where, </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">when </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rather than challenging and engaging them to think deeply and express and share&nbsp;</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">how, why, what if, either / or</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, or even </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">what can you create, design, develop, do, innovate, invent, plan, </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">or </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">produce</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. &nbsp;Those standards were designed and developed to instruct, assess, and evaluate basic skills. &nbsp;Today's students, graduates, and citizens need to learn concepts and content deeply. &nbsp;Knowledge is a commodity and easily acquired, gathered, and even stored thanks to information technology systems. &nbsp;The modern student needs to know how to process the knowledge they acquire and gather into knowledge, thinking, and disposition they can transfer and use in a variety of academic and real world circumstances and conditions in their own unique way using oral, written, creative, and technical expression.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps if a state wants to make their own set of postsecondary ready standards, they should look at the standards developed by national organizations such as the </span><a href="http://www.ncte.org/standards/ncte-ira" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">National Council of Teachers of English&nbsp;and International Reading Association</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, the </span><a href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&amp;ion=1&amp;espv=2&amp;es_th=1&amp;ie=UTF-8#q=national%20council%20of%20teachers%20of%20mathematics&amp;es_th=1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">National Council of Teachers of Mathematics</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, the </span><a href="http://www.nsta.org/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">National Science Teachers Association</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, the </span><a href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">National History Standards from UCLA</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that teach historical content and thinking and the </span><a href="http://www.socialstudies.org/standards" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">National Council of Social Studies</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, the </span><a href="http://nationalartsstandards.org/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">National Arts Standard</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">s, the </span><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/sher/standards/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">National Health Education Standards</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and the </span><a href="http://www.actfl.org/node/192" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">National Standards for Foreign Language</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. &nbsp;They could also further teaching and learning by incorporating the </span><a href="http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Framework for 21st Century Learning</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W6z5ShSLMMg/VQt0bnUCEfI/AAAAAAAAAc4/voQ6KNiOrTI/s1600/p21_rainbow_id254-1-Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W6z5ShSLMMg/VQt0bnUCEfI/AAAAAAAAAc4/voQ6KNiOrTI/s1600/p21_rainbow_id254-1-Large.jpg" height="292" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, if these standards are going to work, then those who develop the standards need to do what the performers who sang "We Are the World" were asked to do when they entered the studio to record the song: Check your ego - or in this case, your agenda - at the door. &nbsp;</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- E.M.F.</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/19/2014</span></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-26612419413579051072014-09-26T17:45:00.003-07:002014-09-26T17:45:20.219-07:00Truth, Justice, and American Education: How the Common Core Debate Is As Senseless As a Superhero Slugfest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fukK-2DLDJQ/VB8MjnhHO8I/AAAAAAAAAb8/w3xYEI-GJug/s1600/Justice%2BLeague%2Bvs%2Bavengers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fukK-2DLDJQ/VB8MjnhHO8I/AAAAAAAAAb8/w3xYEI-GJug/s1600/Justice%2BLeague%2Bvs%2Bavengers.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How does this picture reflect the arguments over the Common Core State Standards?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Think about what the heroes in this picture stand for - truth, justice, and the American way. &nbsp;However, it's that last idea - <i>the American way - </i>that caused the heroes in this picture to battle each other. &nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Justice League have a more idealistic view of the American way and hold not only the public but also themselves to such high standards. &nbsp;The Avengers have a more practical view and realize that sometimes hard choices must be made and lines must be crossed in the name of truth and justice. &nbsp;Though their meaning and methods differ, their intent and purpose are the same - protect the innocent and preserve the common good.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Doesn't that sound like the Common Core debate? &nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Both the supporters and detractors believe education needs to be "saved". &nbsp;However, where they disagree is how education should be "saved" - or improved.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, could it be possible that both sides are misinformed in their approach to supporting and detracting the standards?</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The CCSS supporters claim that the standards address the cognitive rigor that will have our students demonstrating higher levels of thinking and communicating deeper knowledge, understanding, and awareness of what they are learning to prepare them for the demands, expectations, and responsibilities they will encounter after graduating from high school. &nbsp;However, there is no scientifically-based research that proves these standards are effective in raising the rigor of student achievement, teacher effectiveness, and overall school performance. &nbsp;To state that the curriculum offered by a school or through a publish company is misleading since there are no materials or strategies that have been proven to be effective - only hypotheses and theories.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The CCSS detractors claim that the adoption and implementation of the standards is an attempt for the federal government to have more of say in regards to decision-making with education right down to the school level. &nbsp;However, the CCSS is not a federal mandate. &nbsp;It was a state-led initiative that was supported by the current Presidential administration who offered states an administrative incentive to adopt these standards by offering to absolve them to the stringent requirements of No Child Left Behind and a fiscal incentive through the Race to the Top grant that would fund the implementation and professional development of these new standards and the instructional strategies to address them. &nbsp;To state that President Obama and his administration are responsible for the development and implementation of these standards is misleading since the idea and proposal for the national standards can be traced back to President Bush Sr.'s administration in the late '80s and early '90s (and, interestingly, abandoned by President Bill Clinton - a democrat who advocated for the development of academic standards that were developed by the individual states).</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, both sides do have a valid point. &nbsp;The CCSS supporters are correct in that the academic standards for student performance and progress should be strengthened and made more rigorous and relevant. &nbsp;The CCSS detractors are correct in that these standards developed and implemented were thrust upon not only educators but the public as a whole without any opportunity for discussion or review.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So what is the truth about the Common Core State Standards? &nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They will not make our students any smarter nor any more intelligent. &nbsp;However, they hopefully will help our students think deeper about what they are learning and demonstrate and communicate the deeper knowledge, understanding, and awareness they develop using oral, written, creative, and technical expression to answer questions or come up with new ideas, knowledge, perspectives, and ways of thinking.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The curriculum materials offered by the education companies do not address the cognitive rigor of the Common Core State Standards. &nbsp;They may be aligned to them in that they identify the standards that to be taught and learned with the materials they provide, but there is no scientifically-based research to prove one curriculum package is any better than another. &nbsp;It's all speculation and theory at this point until our students' performance and proficiency are measured by the PARCC or Smarter Balanced exams.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Where's the justice behind the Common Core State Standards?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />The implementation of the CCSS is also not a violation of the 10th Amendment, which delegates all powers and responsibilities not designated to the federal government to the states. &nbsp;The states did not have to adopt or implement the CCSS. &nbsp;Four states - Texas, Virginia, Alaska, and Nebraska - chose to establish their own college and career ready standards and assessments. &nbsp;<a href="http://in.chalkbeat.org/2014/08/28/indiana-dodges-nclb-waiver-bullet-for-now/#.VCYFaSldV5k" target="_blank">Indiana</a>&nbsp;has backed out of implementing the CCSS but still maintained their NCLB waiver because their new plan met the requirements of the Race to the Top grant. &nbsp;Other states such as Oklahoma are either repealing or exploring the possibility of abandoning the CCSS under the consequence of having their federally funding pulled unless they can develop a system of instruction, assessment, and evaluation that meets the criteria of the Race to the Top grant. &nbsp;The states were not forced or even coerced to adopt the standards. &nbsp;They were given&nbsp;<i>incentives</i>, but they could have chosen not to take the reprieve or the money.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What's the evil and injustice behind the Common Core State Standards?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The misconception of what the CCSS are and what their intent and purpose are has been so grossly distorted due to this debate. &nbsp;It's become a <i>Brave New World </i>situation. &nbsp;There is so much information and misinformation out there that it's difficult to discern what's fact or fiction.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The "bad guys" are those who have fueled this confusion about the CCSS and used them to advocate their personal or political agenda. &nbsp;The concept and idea of rigorous standards is irrefutable. &nbsp;Our students need to be challenged and engaged to know, understand, think about, and be aware of what they are learning and how these concepts and content can be used to address, handle, settle, or solve real world circumstances, issues, problems, and situations. &nbsp;However, what's the best manner or method to do this should be an educational concern and issue, not a political problem or situation.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Who are the "heroes" in this battle over the Common Core State Standards?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That's the teachers - the Supermen and Wonder Women who will use their professional judgment and training to present the concepts and content addressed in these standards in new and novel ways and challenge and engage our students to think deeply beyond the data, details, elements, facts, and information as they are presented. &nbsp;They are the ones who will take whatever standards are implemented and provide our students with deeper teaching and learning experiences they deserve. &nbsp;They are the ones who should not depend on the curriculum packages offered by the publishing companies that provide "false promises" about alignment to the CCSS or the politicians who have made this more about their feelings about the current Presidential administration to provide them the support they need to teach. &nbsp;They are the ones who will create the lessons, the units, and the scope and sequence of the courses that will provide our children with engaging and enriching education experiences.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let the CCSS supporters and debaters continue to fight each other proclaiming they have the best interest of the community in their mind. &nbsp;We teachers will be the X-Men and the Teen Titans, fighting the good fight to ensure the American way of equality and opportunity are preserved through our actions.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- E.M.F.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-24113762374066429682014-08-13T13:20:00.002-07:002014-08-13T14:00:53.346-07:00Relevancy Check: Why Am I Teaching This?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XNDuDkPMM5E/U-vJSq_uzqI/AAAAAAAAAbo/EOLxWynq_RE/s1600/relevance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XNDuDkPMM5E/U-vJSq_uzqI/AAAAAAAAAbo/EOLxWynq_RE/s1600/relevance.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Is It Time for a Relevancy Check?</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You know what you're supposed to teach. &nbsp;It's defined in academic standards implemented by your state and and outlined the curriculum adopted by the district.</span><br /><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You know what your students are expected to know, understand, and do and how deeply they need to know, understand, and be aware of what they're learning. &nbsp;It's stated in the performance objectives your state's academic standards and set by the questions, problems, and tasks your students your students must answer, address, and accomplish.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, can you honestly say why you are teaching the ideas, principles, subjects, theories, and topics you you are teaching or even why it is important and vital - or essential - for students to learn these concepts and content?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How often have you been asked by your students - or did you even ask your teachers - why do they need to know this? &nbsp;What do you tell them? &nbsp;Do you find yourself at a loss for words and unable to find the connection between academic concepts and real world circumstances?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then perhaps it's time for you to conduct a relevancy check.</span><br /><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For years, we've been focused on conducting checks for rigor to determine the levels of difficulty and depth of complexity of what we are teaching. &nbsp;That's what the Common Core State Standards have encouraged and prompted us to do. &nbsp;However, what we seem to struggle with is to have our students recognize and realize how they can use the academic concepts and content they are learning to address real world circumstances, issues, problems, or situations.</span></div><div><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KYhCVFaY_ns/U-qdkVKBVcI/AAAAAAAAAbA/AShAmS5FP7I/s1600/webb%2Bto%2Bbloom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KYhCVFaY_ns/U-qdkVKBVcI/AAAAAAAAAbA/AShAmS5FP7I/s1600/webb%2Bto%2Bbloom.JPG" height="268" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cognitive Rigor Matrix (Hess, Jones, Carlock&amp; Walkup, 2009)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED517804.pdf" target="_blank">Hess, Carlock, Jones, and Walkup (2009)</a> developed the concept of cognitive rigor to aligned &nbsp;Bloom's Taxonomy with Webb's Depth of Knowledge. &nbsp;They even developed the Cognitive Rigor Matrix to help teachers align the cognitive complexity Bloom's Taxonomy and Webb's Depth of Knowledge. &nbsp;While most teachers are able to provide questions, problems, and tasks that have students demonstrate higher level thinking, they struggle with challenging and engaging students to extend their thinking across the curriculum and beyond the classroom.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What most teachers seem to strive for yet struggle with is what has become the elusive D.O.K.-4 Question that extends students' thinking across the curriculum and beyond the classroom. &nbsp;With D.O.K.-4, students are challenged and engaged to conduct research and&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">investigations to solve real-world problems with unpredictable outcomes. &nbsp;The strive has been to connect the academic concepts and content being taught and learned to real-world situations. &nbsp;The struggle has been for teachers to think about what exactly are those real-world circumstances, issues, problems, are situations.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">D.O.K-4 questions are not just about rigor but relevance - the thinking and reasoning behind what we are teaching and how knowledge, understanding, and awareness can be used to answer multidisciplinary questions and address real world issues, problems, and situations. &nbsp;The D.O.K.-4 establishes the importance and value - or relevancy - of what we are teaching and our students are learning.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To define the relevancy, we need to consider how deeper knowledge and thinking about academic concepts and content can extend across the curriculum and beyond the classroom. &nbsp;In order to do this, we need to consider the following questions:</span><br /><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How could learning these ideas, principles, processes, and theories benefit our students academically, personally, professionally, and socially?</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How could learning these concepts and content help our students better understand the past, handle the present, and prepare for the future?</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What is the connection these subjects and topics have globally, nationally, and locally?</span></li></ul><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JsF8Tnm8Vos/U-vG994L2mI/AAAAAAAAAbc/dmVNUIh-Wro/s1600/RC.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JsF8Tnm8Vos/U-vG994L2mI/AAAAAAAAAbc/dmVNUIh-Wro/s1600/RC.png" height="244" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Relevancy Check Chart</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In order to help teachers recognize and realize the relevancy of what they are teaching, I have developed what I call the Relevancy Check - a chart that will help teachers determine the connection between the academic concepts they are teaching and their importance and value in the real world. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The first box is where you will identify the concept, content, subject, or topic you are teaching. &nbsp;For example, perhaps you are teaching fractions, the American Revolution, plate tectonics, or </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Macbeth</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. &nbsp;The second box is where you will list the performance objectives of the standards and clusters you are teaching. &nbsp;The next set of boxes is where you will determine what is the relevance of what you are teaching academically, personally, professionally, socially; to the past, the present, and future; and globally, nationally, and locally.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Not all of these sections will be answered. &nbsp;However, there should be more than an academic relevancy to what you are teaching. &nbsp;Otherwise, why are you teaching it (because it's in the text or the standards are not a good enough reason).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As we head back to campus for another school year, consider how you could use this chart to help you recognize and realize the importance and value - or relevance - of what you're teaching. &nbsp;If you can't see the relevancy, then perhaps you need to reflect upon your own depth of knowledge of what you are teaching.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- E.M.F.</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(To learn more about how you can use the Relevancy Check or how you can receive a professional development training on how to use this tool, please contact us at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:erik@maverikeducation.com" target="_blank">erik@maverikeducation.com</a>or visit our website at <a href="http://www.maverikeducation.com/" target="_blank">www.maverikeducation.com</a>).</span></div></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-15691460170987384262014-08-10T08:12:00.002-07:002014-08-10T08:12:12.881-07:00Michael Crichton + Cognitive Rigor + Common Core = Complexity Through Creativity<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Each year, districts and schools conduct book studies as part of their professional development plan to learn new insights, methods, and strategies to improve student achievement, teacher effectiveness, and overall school performance. &nbsp;The books typically read for these book studies are either education trade books that discuss key issues or best practices in education or leadership and management books that address how to improve operational effectiveness and stakeholder relations.</span></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, what if this year for the book study your school read a <a href="http://www.crichton-official.com/foryoungerreaders-qa.html" target="_blank">Michael Crichton</a> novel and analyzed and evaluated how his books reflect the kind of learning we want students to demonstrate and communicate?</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GAYDAA6gmVk/U-eBp5rnpQI/AAAAAAAAAaA/EwZ4MNKQ8Ko/s1600/Crichton.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GAYDAA6gmVk/U-eBp5rnpQI/AAAAAAAAAaA/EwZ4MNKQ8Ko/s1600/Crichton.png" height="226" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Literary Fiction of Michael Crichton</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Perhaps you've heard of Michael Crichton's books or their movie adaptations - </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Jurassic Park, Congo, Sphere, Rising Sun, The Great Train Robbery, Disclosure,&nbsp;</i><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Andromeda Strain, A Case of Need </i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(apparently, there was a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Case_of_Need" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">film adaptation</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> made in the 1970s),&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">or </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Eaters of the Dead, </i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">which was adapted into the film </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The 13th Warrior</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. &nbsp;Perhaps you've seen the film&nbsp;</span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Twister </i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">or watched the TV show </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">E/R</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. &nbsp;Perhaps you've read one of his fiction novels that was not turned into a film such as </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Airframe, Pirate Latitudes, Next, Prey</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">State of Fear</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, or </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Pirate Latitudes</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. &nbsp;Perhaps you read his nonfiction work&nbsp;</span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Travels.</i><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you're familiar with Michael Crichton's works, you know that his novels, films, and TV shows are not mindless tales that showcase nonsensical topics. &nbsp;They are actually academic and even highly cerebral tomes that address open-ended, thought-provoking essential questions in an entertaining manner.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RUJtU9LTMQ0/U-eB8yrAAlI/AAAAAAAAAaI/ZDiCovCNp40/s1600/Jurassicpark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RUJtU9LTMQ0/U-eB8yrAAlI/AAAAAAAAAaI/ZDiCovCNp40/s1600/Jurassicpark.jpg" height="200" width="141" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Consider the topic addressed in <i>Jurassic Park</i>&nbsp;- <i>Should scientists bring back the dinosaurs and reintroduce them into the world and how would they do it</i>? &nbsp;This would be an interesting topic to explore in a K-12 science classroom studying fossils, biology, genetics, cloning or artificial selection. &nbsp;In fact, the part of the novel&nbsp;<i>Jurassic Park </i>that explains how the scientists extracted dinosaur blood from fossilized mosquitoes and how the scientists mistakenly chose to replace the unknown DNA strands with amphibian DNA reads like a biology textbook. &nbsp;It also examines and explores a number of prevailing debate over whether dinosaurs are more closely related to birds than reptiles.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pt5Sjmo3uIc/U-eCOusQ_lI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/c6pwJj8Upc4/s1600/Big-congo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pt5Sjmo3uIc/U-eCOusQ_lI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/c6pwJj8Upc4/s1600/Big-congo.jpg" height="200" width="162" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In <i>Congo</i>, Crichton takes us into the heart of Africa where the characters encounter the natural dangers and the political strife occurring in the jungle. &nbsp;He also examines and explores the controversial idea of the evolutionary connection between humans and apes by featuring an ape who communicates through sign language and savage simian creatures that protect the gemstones the expedition team is looking for whose features and behaviors indicate they are either an ape-chimpanzee hybrid or even a gorilla-human hybrid.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cClDWLbvclo/U-eCeHEJTOI/AAAAAAAAAaY/UYKf_JsSJmQ/s1600/MichaelCrighton_Timeline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cClDWLbvclo/U-eCeHEJTOI/AAAAAAAAAaY/UYKf_JsSJmQ/s1600/MichaelCrighton_Timeline.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Timeline </i>addresses time travel, explaining how time travel is similar to transmitting a message via a fax machine in which the original form of a person stays in the present and a "facsimile" of them actually travels through the time spectrum. &nbsp;<i>Sphere</i>&nbsp;also addresses time travel as well as what lies at the bottom of the ocean in a highly complex, psychological manner.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nyqbzv3SxwY/U-eC1nyEkII/AAAAAAAAAag/-OdQY1SxiUg/s1600/cartel_twister_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nyqbzv3SxwY/U-eC1nyEkII/AAAAAAAAAag/-OdQY1SxiUg/s1600/cartel_twister_0.jpg" height="320" width="204" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Most of Crichton's novels &nbsp;focus heavily on scientific theory. &nbsp;<i>The Andromeda Strain </i>is one of the first books that presented how the world would react to the spread of a deadly epidemic (in this case, it was an extraterrestrial biological infestation brought back by an American satellite that returns to Earth).&nbsp;<i>The Terminal Man</i>&nbsp;is about unlocking the hidden potential of the human brain. &nbsp;<i>Prey </i>is about nanotechnology. &nbsp;<i>Twister</i>&nbsp;is about how to be able to track and predict tornadoes. &nbsp;<i>Next </i>is another evolutionary story about man's connections to apes. &nbsp;<i>State of Fear</i>&nbsp;is about global warming and is considered to be one of his most controversial novels. &nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Crichton also dabbled in the social sciences with his stories and also addressed some very topical yet controversial issues. &nbsp;</span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Rising Sun</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">&nbsp;addresses the controversial subject of how Japanese business practices and culture has seeped into American culture. &nbsp;</span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Disclosure</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">&nbsp;takes a different turn on sexual harassment - male on female - and infers how it can be used for leverage and selfish intentions. &nbsp;<i>Airframe </i>is about the procedures and politics involved in investigating airline crashes. &nbsp;Crichton<i> </i>has also written historical fiction such as <i>Eaters of the Dead,&nbsp;The Great Train Robbery,</i>&nbsp;and <i>Pirate Latitudes </i>based upon actual events and people.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6wAZYOrz0wM/U-eK97DfuNI/AAAAAAAAAaw/MAxR525okms/s1600/Metacognition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6wAZYOrz0wM/U-eK97DfuNI/AAAAAAAAAaw/MAxR525okms/s1600/Metacognition.jpg" height="320" width="246" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What's interesting and relevant about Crichton's novels and stories in their connection to education is not what the stories discuss - although you would definitely learn more about whatever it's discussing - but rather how he presents this information. &nbsp;Crichton's books are the epitome of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition" target="_blank">metacognition</a>, the ability to use knowledge a person develops through learning to answer a question, address a problem, or accomplish a task or even come up with new ideas, knowledge, perspectives, and ways of thinking. &nbsp;Each one of Crichton's novels is based upon a hypothesis or notion he has about a particular academic, social, or scientific concept, idea, subject, or topic. &nbsp;Each novel or film asks a question that he examines and explores throughout the story. &nbsp;His stories are actually expository and even argumentative writing, and he tests his hypotheses and presents his ideas through narrative.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Crichton's novels are also examples of project-based learning - particularly by communicating his ideas clearly through oral, written, creative, and technical expression. &nbsp;He <i>teaches </i>us something new with every story. &nbsp;Think about it. &nbsp;Did you ever consider dinosaurs could possibly be the ancestors of birds rather than reptiles before you read or watched <i>Jurassic Park</i>? &nbsp;Was that the "ah-ha" moment you took away from the book or the movie? &nbsp;Did it compel you to look up and research whether there was any truth to what Crichton suggested?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Crichton's novels also exemplify the depth in which we want our students to think critically, creatively, and strategically and examine and explore through research, investigation, experiential, hands-on learning, and creative design. &nbsp;He takes us beyond the facts and information as they are presented or provided and challenges us to question what we believe we know and what we are currently learning. &nbsp;His books could actually be a supplement to any science or social studies textbook or be taught in conjunction with exploration of current events.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Plus, his books and movies are so much fun to read and watch!</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How can we have our students' demonstrate higher level thinking and communicate their deeper knowledge, understanding, and awareness of what they are learning as if they were Michael Crichton? &nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We need to provide them opportunities to express and share their knowledge, understanding, and awareness using their innate skills and talents.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That's what Crichton did. &nbsp;He used his verbal, visual, and technical skills to present his ideas in a creative manner. &nbsp;He was also highly intrapersonal in that he was an author who preferred to work by himself (though he did collaborate with his wife in writing&nbsp;</span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Twister</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">&nbsp;and also directed a couple of films such as&nbsp;</span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Coma. Looker,</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">&nbsp;and&nbsp;</span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Westworld</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">).</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That's not to say every child should express their learning creatively through a novel or a film or even art. &nbsp;Crichton wrote nonfiction as well. &nbsp;In fact, many of his articles are great examples of expository and argumentative writing.</span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZZ3ycndgRY/U7gmGyg0wFI/AAAAAAAAAWw/T3iW696rkb0/s1600/Slide42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZZ3ycndgRY/U7gmGyg0wFI/AAAAAAAAAWw/T3iW696rkb0/s1600/Slide42.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Multiple Intelligence Activities: World War II</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d6XMw4TlpiE/U7gmWfMB5XI/AAAAAAAAAW4/e7_H2WCX0Iw/s1600/Slide49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d6XMw4TlpiE/U7gmWfMB5XI/AAAAAAAAAW4/e7_H2WCX0Iw/s1600/Slide49.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Multiple Intelligence Activities: Pythagorean Theorem</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To have my students express and share their knowledge, understanding, and awareness like an artisan or thinker like Michael Crichton, I created the Multiple Intelligence Activity grid based upon the Tic-Tac-Toe tool used typically in differentiated instruction that allows students to use their strengths, skills, and talents to demonstrate and communicate their learning. &nbsp; The projects I included in there were aligned to the multiple intelligences defined by <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-howard-gardner-interview" target="_blank">Howard Gardner</a>. &nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Each box had one or two very abstract, broad, and complex descriptions of the project the student could develop - draw a poster, write a short story, make a PowerPoint presentation or video, engage in a debate. &nbsp;How the students designed and developed the project was up to them. &nbsp;In keeping with the practice of differentiated instruction that allows students to <i>choose</i>&nbsp;how they learn, I allowed them the choice of either working alone, with a partner, or as part of a group or team to complete their project. &nbsp;I also provided them the opportunity to do a student original combo if they did not like any of the project ideas presented, which meant they could combine one of the projects presented within the grid - for example, turn a short story written by one student into a graphic novel or a film. &nbsp;They could also come up with their own idea for a project they would want to do that addressed the objective of the unit, answered one of the <i>good cognitive rigor</i> <i>questions</i>&nbsp;of the unit, and also would prompt their audience to <i>think deeply</i>&nbsp;about what they are learning.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MBx2c5BHJj0/U7gtJ2say1I/AAAAAAAAAXk/iAQnWOF_Ml0/s1600/Slide48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MBx2c5BHJj0/U7gtJ2say1I/AAAAAAAAAXk/iAQnWOF_Ml0/s1600/Slide48.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Multiple Intelligence Activity: Science Fiction</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Along with their projects, each student would have to write a research and process paper that detailed the research they conducted to complete their project and how and why they designed and developed their project as they did. &nbsp;That's what I would grade since that's really what I was focused upon - how deeply they learned about the concept, idea, subject, or topic they addressed in their project and how they defended, explained, or justified their thinking and reasoning. &nbsp;I would turn the projects themselves over to the class for grading. &nbsp;The final week of the unit was the class showcase in which each student or group presented their problem. &nbsp;My students read the stories and papers and watch the presentations and performances. &nbsp;After they were viewed, they would answer three questions:</span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mCdQbDvh568/U7gtbSWudYI/AAAAAAAAAXs/gcach7Vjhrs/s1600/Slide43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mCdQbDvh568/U7gtbSWudYI/AAAAAAAAAXs/gcach7Vjhrs/s1600/Slide43.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Multiple Intelligence Activity: Animals</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><ol><li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How does the project address the objectives of the unit?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How does the project answer one or more of the essential questions of the unit?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What deeper knowledge, understanding, and awareness did you acquire from this project?</span></li></ol><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the reviews were submitted, my class would engage in </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">a Q &amp; A session with the presenter(s) of the project to discuss how they produced their project and what their intent, message, or purpose was. &nbsp;Based upon the results of the reviews, the students would receive a grade from the peer evaluation that I would average in with the grade I gave them for their research and process papers.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Teaching and grading like this not only made my class more enriching but also enjoyable and even manageable. &nbsp;Before this, I would spend days grading a different version of the same project I assigned over and over. &nbsp;I also encountered the "angry parent" who would be upset about my critique over the quality of the project. &nbsp;By turning the grading of the project to the students, it relieved me from grading the quality of their project and allowed me to focus more on what I really was concerned about - how deeply did they learn about the concept, idea, subject, or topic and how did they use that knowledge to accomplish the task or create new ideas, knowledge, perspectives, and ways of thinking.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Plus, these projects gave me student-produced artifacts I could use to teach my students in the other classes as well as in the future! &nbsp;That's one of the essential reasons why we should have our students do projects - to have student-created artifacts, examples, and exemplars that we can use to teach our students deeper and show students what they have the potential to do with what they have learned. &nbsp;Whenever I presented a story, research paper, video, or work of art one of my former students did, I always had a student who muttered, "I could do that," or even claim they could do it better. &nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When we do project-based learning, we're not only allowing students to demonstrate and communicate their deeper knowledge, understanding, thinking, and awareness using their innate skills and talents. &nbsp;We're helping these students to develop these skills and talents into expertise they will hopefully be able to use successfully in their personal and professional lives. &nbsp;We're also thinking about the future by showing our students what they could potentially do with what they are learning and giving them the freedom to take what they have learned and come up with their own ideas, knowledge, perspectives, and ways of thinking.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just like Michael Crichton did in every story he wrote.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- E.M.F.</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(If you're interested in learning how to do project-based learning with the Multiple Intelligence Activity grid or have this training as a professional development for your teachers at your school, please contact me at <a href="mailto:erik@maverikeducation.com">erik@maverikeducation.com</a> or visit my website <a href="http://www.maverikeducation.com/">www.maverikeducation.com</a>).</span></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399200985568481641.post-1306660586757270342014-08-03T08:52:00.002-07:002014-08-04T20:54:34.912-07:00Let's Make a D.O.K.! A Game Show Approach to Depth of Knowledge <span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">What exactly is depth of knowledge?</span></span><br /><div><div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HndJ6noGS2o/UwD3SHcl7kI/AAAAAAAAAE0/823Owb3mVUQ/s1600/Slide2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HndJ6noGS2o/UwD3SHcl7kI/AAAAAAAAAE0/823Owb3mVUQ/s1600/Slide2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Questioning with Webb's Depth of Knowledge</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">The framework designed by Norman Webb (1997) categorizes depth of knowledge into four levels.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">D.O.K.-1 questions require students &nbsp;to recall or reproduce knowledge and/or skills to come up with an answer that is either correct or incorrect. &nbsp;Questions&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">at this particular level usually involves working with facts,&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">terms, and/or properties of objects.</span><br /><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">D.O.K.-2 questions expect students to&nbsp;</span><i style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">think deeper</i><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">&nbsp;about how to answer questions by applying the knowledge and skills they have acquired and developed. &nbsp;Such teaching and learning</span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">&nbsp;experiences involve students working with or applying skills and/or concepts to&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">tasks related to the field of study in a laboratory setting. &nbsp;They also require students&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">to&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">follow a set of principles, categories, and protocols in order to answer a question, address a problem, or accomplish a task.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">A D.O.K.-3 question challenges students to&nbsp;</span><i style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">think critically and strategically</i><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">&nbsp;how to answer a question acceptably, accurately, appropriately, and authentically. &nbsp;They challenge and engage students to&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">demonstrate and communicate higher levels of thinking such as analysis and&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">evaluation but also communicate their thinking and reasoning behind their responses and results.</span><br /><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">A D.O.K.-4 question engages students to&nbsp;</span><i style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">examine and explore</i><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">&nbsp;concepts and content deeply and&nbsp;</span><i style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">think creatively&nbsp;</i><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">how they can use their knowledge, understanding, and awareness to answer questions or come up with new ideas, knowledge, perspectives, and ways of thinking about what they are learning. &nbsp;Such questions encourage students to examine and explore how to address, handle, settle, or solve</span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">&nbsp;real world circumstances, issues, problems, and situations through research, investigation, experimentation, and creative design. &nbsp;They also expect students to express and share their claims, conclusions, decisions, and reasons using oral, written, creative, and technical expression.</span></span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">Sounds simple, right?</span></span></div></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">Then why is there so much confusion as to what qualifies as deeper knowledge, understanding, thinking, and awareness? &nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">Why is there so much concern over how students' depth of knowledge of concepts and content will be assessed and evaluated on assessments such as the PARCC or the Smarter Balanced exams? &nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">How would you explain this academic concept to a new teacher who has just entered the profession or moved from a state that had not adopted the Common Core State Standards?</span></span></div></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">How would you explain this cognitive schema to a veteran teacher who is used to aligning their instruction to the categories within the Cognitive Domain of Bloom's Taxonomy or its revised version which has split knowledge into its own dimension?</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">How would you explain this instructional focus to parents and students who for years have been instructed, assessed, and evaluated based upon how much they know, understand, and can do rather than how deeply they know, understand, and aware of a concept or content in order to answer a question, address a problem, or accomplish a task?</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">How can we develop instructional activities and assessments that not only stimulate student thinking and deepen their knowledge, understanding, and awareness about what they are learning but also measure and monitor the level of thinking and depth of knowledge they can demonstrate and communicate?</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qVqglFFFlkM/U95adv9_t8I/AAAAAAAAAZI/bGdmqjiXnH8/s1600/game-show-host.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qVqglFFFlkM/U95adv9_t8I/AAAAAAAAAZI/bGdmqjiXnH8/s1600/game-show-host.jpg" height="200" width="163" /></a><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">We can teach them like game show contestants.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">Now wait a minute. &nbsp;I'm not suggesting we turn our classroom into entertainment centers in which students compete with their classmates as to who can answer questions, address problems, or accomplish tasks correctly or successfully for a prize or reward. &nbsp;I'm suggesting that they can use the format of questions, problems, and tasks on various game shows to challenge and engage students to demonstrate and communicate different levels of knowledge, understanding, thinking, and awareness.</span></span></div><div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o2_hKA0mXbw/U97VW4f3DBI/AAAAAAAAAZo/BHb176FLBYo/s1600/millionaire-logo-medium-150x150.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-o2_hKA0mXbw%2FU97VW4f3DBI%2FAAAAAAAAAZo%2FBHb176FLBYo%2Fs1600%2Fmillionaire-logo-medium-150x150.gif&amp;container=blogger&amp;gadget=a&amp;rewriteMime=image%2F*" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o2_hKA0mXbw/U97VW4f3DBI/AAAAAAAAAZo/BHb176FLBYo/s1600/millionaire-logo-medium-150x150.gif" height="200" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x_MejARQ1_c/U91Z2Whk2nI/AAAAAAAAAYM/NiD4oEw9KYE/s1600/Jeopardy--logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x_MejARQ1_c/U91Z2Whk2nI/AAAAAAAAAYM/NiD4oEw9KYE/s1600/Jeopardy--logo.jpg" height="110" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">D.O.K.-1 activities generally resemble the kind of questions contestants are asked on <i>Who Wants to Be a Millionaire </i>or&nbsp;<i>Jeopardy</i>&nbsp;- multiple choice or short answer questions that require demonstrating and communicating factual knowledge of specific details, elements, and information correctly. &nbsp;The questions asked on <i>Jeopardy </i>are similar to how we assess and evaluate our students' factual, procedural, and conceptual knowledge of the subjects and topics they are learning - asking them to recall, recognize, and remember specific details, elements, facts and information correctly. &nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">&nbsp;Such questions are more difficult than complex, requiring students to&nbsp;</span><i style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">work hard</i><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">&nbsp;at remembering so many details correctly, which is why <i>Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and</i>&nbsp;<i>Jeopardy </i>are two of the most difficult game shows on the air. &nbsp;However,</span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">&nbsp;such questions can help students develop the knowledge and understanding they will need to </span><i style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">think deeper</i><span style="color: #525252; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">&nbsp;about what they are learning.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DSzXpj3WlB4/U95TWIr3mEI/AAAAAAAAAYY/LREAVDNBPXM/s1600/logos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DSzXpj3WlB4/U95TWIr3mEI/AAAAAAAAAYY/LREAVDNBPXM/s1600/logos.jpg" height="107" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">D.O.K.-2 activities are similar to the competitive tasks presented on shows such as </span><i style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">Top Chef </i><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">or&nbsp;</span><i style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">Hell's Kitchen </i><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">in which contestants expected to use conceptual and procedural knowledge to answer a question, address a problem, or accomplish a task. &nbsp;These shows are like a lab experience in which students actively apply their knowledge, understanding, and skills to complete and are evaluated based upon their ability to produce a correct, desired, or specific result. &nbsp;It expects students to use what they have learned to answer a question, address a problem, or accomplish a task. &nbsp;As with <i>Hell's Kitchen</i>&nbsp;and <i>Top Chef</i>, D.O.K.-2 questions focus heavily on skills-based performance, expecting students to demonstrate their ability to use the factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge they have acquired in a specific area, discipline, or subject.</span></span><br /><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1bTlzmrFvBk/U95Ty9OT1QI/AAAAAAAAAYg/oF_ads91H5E/s1600/srvr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1bTlzmrFvBk/U95Ty9OT1QI/AAAAAAAAAYg/oF_ads91H5E/s1600/srvr.jpg" height="166" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w5iOtCsZfjw/U95UOXT0aPI/AAAAAAAAAYo/fQL5mf_1zOs/s1600/250px-The_Apprentice_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w5iOtCsZfjw/U95UOXT0aPI/AAAAAAAAAYo/fQL5mf_1zOs/s1600/250px-The_Apprentice_logo.jpg" height="83" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">D.O.K.-3 activities are similar to the problems and tasks presented on game shows such as <i>Survivor</i>&nbsp;or <i>The Apprentice&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;Both shows are prime examples of problem-based learning that challenges students to <i>think critically and strategically </i>about how to answer a question, address a problem, or accomplish a task. &nbsp;They also emphasize <i>collaboration </i>in that the questions, problems, and tasks posed, presented, and provided cannot be answered, addressed, or accomplished alone or immediately. &nbsp;D.O.K.-3 activities are like the competitions on <i>Survivor</i>&nbsp;and the tasks on <i>The Apprentice </i>in that they are highly complex and focus more on the process in which a question, problem, or task can be answered, addressed, or accomplished.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mkf1FXwVAFw/U95U3hrW59I/AAAAAAAAAY4/5XaWLt2ciXw/s1600/shark-tank-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mkf1FXwVAFw/U95U3hrW59I/AAAAAAAAAY4/5XaWLt2ciXw/s1600/shark-tank-logo.jpg" height="95" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">D.O.K.-4 activities are like&nbsp;<i>Shark Tank, </i>which essentially is project-based learning and even engineering design. &nbsp;A person <i>thinks creatively </i>about how to&nbsp;design and develop an innovative or inventive plan or product that addresses a particular circumstance, issue, problem, or situation; plots out the plan or produces a prototype; tests their idea or design; and then presents their conclusions to a panel, defending, explaining, and justifying their reasoning and results. &nbsp;Project-based learning should mirror the experience of <i>Shark Tank</i>&nbsp;in that students should be expected to present what they have designed, developed, or done and have their project evaluated by the teacher and their peers as to whether it answers the essential question of the unit or class, addresses a particular objective, and teaches them something new about the concept or content they are learning.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">So when you are planning your D.O.K. activities this year, consider which game show your question, problem, or task will appear and how it expects to students to demonstrate and communicate their thinking - and <i>let's make a D.O.K</i>.!</span></span><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">- E.M.F.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #525252; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> &nbsp;</span></div>Erik M. Francishttps://plus.google.com/105140828050775979764noreply@blogger.com11